


Forgot to Remember

by Annabethlove



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: F/M, Romance, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-07-08 00:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 26,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15919695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annabethlove/pseuds/Annabethlove
Summary: After a horrific accident, Gray is left in a coma for a long period of time. When he wakes up, he realizes he has lost something precious to him, more precious than his own life.





	1. | 1 |

 

 

Even before he opened his eyes, Gray knew where he was. He'd had many accidents before. He was a hockey player after all and the game was more than a bit dangerous. He'd had more than his few pulled tendons and broken bones. He would stay at the hospital two or three days, so he recognized the sound the IV did. _Drip, drip, drip._

He stirred in his position and he felt as if a bulldozer had run over him and had enough time to back up on him. Every muscle in his body hurt. Like he hadn't moved them in ages. He sat up shakily. Instantly, he felt a wave of nausea hit him and his head felt drowsy. He tried to groan, but he realized his throat was extremely dry. How long had he been out?

He looked down at the white sheets of the hospital bed, where his hands laid, but his vision was very blurry. He tried concentrating on them once more, but it only made him go into another round of drowsiness. He looked over to where the IV hung and he noticed another bad on the side, hanging along with it. Had they given him sleeping medicine too? To ease the pain?

Gray tried moving his legs, but he found it quite hard. Had he really hurt himself that badly? He tried remembering how he'd gotten hurt, but nothing came to mind. For a second, he entered in a state of panic. Why couldn't he remember? He tried clearing his head. Don't panic. He remembered going to school. He was a Criminal Justice major at Fairy Tail University, but he was also part of their hockey team. He was the captain and they had a game that Friday evening. It was his first year being captain, so he wanted to make a good impression to his fellow team members. He remembered talking to his annoying friends, Natsu, before going into the ring. They were both excited for their first game, since Natsu was the co-captain, he also wanted to make a good impression to the other team members.

Things started becoming clearer the more he sorted things out. He remembered his friend Natsu and his other friends that night. His friends Lucy–Natsu's girlfriend–Cana, Erza and Levy. They had all been there. They had come to cheer them on their first game of the season. They were going to face one of the harder Hockey teams; Phantom Lord. They had been the best of the best on everything for the longest time. Fairy Tail wasn't far behind, but that Hockey game would prove which of the two schools was the best.

He remembered going into the ring and the game started, but he had soon realized that the team from Phantom Lord were no joke and that they played dirty. They were nothing but brutal; they had no mercy. He remembered that they were tied, and they only had a few seconds left and then someone had slammed into him! They had sent him flying. He had been badly injured; his leg in a weird position. In an unnatural angle. They had called the medic team on standby and–

That was all that Gray remembered. He must've passed out from the pain and now he was at the hospital recovering. He sighed. His first game and he had been totally knocked out. What were his teammates going to think of him? He winced at what _Natsu_ was going to say to him. He would never let that moment go and Gray was screwed.

Gray had been thinking of a way to get up, when the door to his room burst open and soft chatter followed by two people walked in. Natsu and Lucy didn't seem to notice that he was awake because they continued to bicker silently about something between them.

"I told you she needed–"

" _Gray?"_ The sound of his name coming out of Natsus' mouth seemed to freeze Lucy in her spot as she snapped hear head towards Gray's direction. He was surprised that she hadn't snapped it. Both Lucy and Natsu were starring at him as if he were a ghost.

"I-I can't believe this." Lucy rushed to his side, while Natsu stayed behind planted in his spot. Frozen, like a statue. "Are you really awake?"

Gray let her fuss over him; feeling his forehead–he wasn't sure why. He didn't have a fever. And even as far as asking him if he needed to pee. He decided to stop her after that.

"Sorry guys." He rubbed the back of his head cheekily. "I guess I messed up, didn't I?"

Natsu rushed to his side and angeringly punched him in the shoulder. "Of course, you did you fucking Ice Prick!" Gray was about to growl an insult back at him but stopped when he noticed his friend had tears in his eyes.

"Natsu? What the fuck man?" Gray looked at him incredulously. What had gotten into him? It wasn't the first time he had seem Gray in a hospital bed. For him to start crying was overkill. Trying to ease things–he wasn't good with tears–he chuckled and looked over at Lucy with a _‘What's wrong with your idiot?’_ Look, but stopped when he noticed the blonde was also crying. She was biting her lips to keep from sobbing as she pulled him into a bear crushing hug.

"Whoa, what the heck is going on you guys?" Gay exclaimed after he was able to free himself from Lucy's bone crushing hug. She was still crying freely. What had gotten into both of them? "Natsu?" But his pink haired friend still had tears in his eyes and Gray could see he was holding back from tackling him too. Which really freaked him out. Natsu hugging him was like hell freezing over.

"Okay, guys. I'm alive. I'm fine. Kill it with the waterworks." Gray raised his eyebrow as Lucy let out a sob. "Man. Was it that bad?"

"What do you mean Gray? Of course, it was bad you fucker!" Natsu shouted angrily. That's when Gray realized what was really driving him with his mood swings. They had probably lost the hockey game and he was pissed at him.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. We can always work better with the next games. One loss won't put us that far behind. Fairy Tail always ends up on top at then end."

Natsu was looking at him with a flabbergasted expression. "What are you talking about, Gray?"

"The Game? The one against Phantom Lord? The reason why I'm in this hospital bed right now?" Gray was started to get irritated. He wasn't a man with a lot of patience and his friends were really testing him at the moment with their stupid questions and their stupid stares.

"Gray...?" Lucy gave him a petrified look. "What is the last thing you remember?"

"The Hockey game against Phantom Lord. What else?" he deadpanned. "I was injured during the game and that's why I'm here. Right?"

Natsu and Lucy shared a look of pure horror and Gray was getting really tired of them. Even if they lost the game, he was in the hospital godammit. They should at least cut him some slack. He was injured after all!

Lucy reached over and looked right into his eyes, as if searching for something. "Gray. Tell me everyone you remember from our group. All the people you know."

Gray looked at her as if she were crazy. "What do I need to do that, Lucy?"

"Just do it!" she snapped. She had a face of desperation as if she were trying to assure herself of something.

Gray was about to look at Natsu and ask him for help, but even the pink haired man was staring at him; waiting for his answer.

Gray sighed. "You, fire breath, Cana, Erza, Levy, Elfman, Lisanna and Mirajane. There, happy?"

"Is that all?" Lucy was clutching on his shoulders as if her life depended on it.

"What the fuck–"

"Answer her, Gray!" Gray was surprised with Natsus' outburst so, he simply nodded. Natsu cursed and Lucy sobbed as she began crying again.

"No," she sobbed. "This can't be."

Gray looked at Lucy terrified. "Was has gotten into you?"

"Lucy." Natsu said. "Go call the doctor and tell him."

"Natsu," the blonde hair girl sobbed, but Natsu gave her a look and she stood up, still sobbing, let the room to find the doctor. Good. Gray wanted to get the hell out of the hospital. He was tired and irritated, and it had only been ten minutes since he had woken up. The doctor would clear him, and he would be able to leave.

Looking over at Natsu, he sighed. "So how did the game go? We lost, didn't we?"

Natsu gave him a pained expression. "We won, Gray. We won the game, _eight_ years ago."

 

 

 

 

 


	2. | 2 |

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a horrific accident, Gray is left in a coma for a long period of time. When he wakes up, he realizes he has lost something precious to him, more precious than his own life.

 

Grays stared at the white hospital blanket clasped harshly in between his hands as he ran the words over and over in his head. Amnesia. He had _fucking_ amnesia. Seven _years_ of it to be precise. He was trying to wrap his head around it. The doctor had come in after Lucy had called him and had asked his friends wait outside while he checked on Gray and once he was satisfied with his vitals and other stuff he spent a good amount of time scrutinizing his paper— Gray really wished he could've punched him, but then he had sighed and had explained things to Gray.

He had been in a car wreck eight months ago and he had been in a coma ever since. He said it had been a hit and run and that the culprit still hadn't been found.

At first, Gray asked if it was all a joke and that it wasn't a very funny one, but the doctor simply gave him a pitying look, and explained that he would have to undergo some more test in order to see if there had been more brain damage. Gray had been in denial. He was ready to rip off all the medical cords he had on himself and get the hell out of that hospital, but then the doctor had let both Natsu and Lucy walk in to try and talk some sense into him. When he saw them and finally took a very good look at them, he knew it was true.

They looked like his college friends, but there were slight changes in them that didn't happen overnight. Lucy's hair was longer. It reached below her waist. The last time he had seen her, her hair had been just above her shoulders. Or what he remembered. Her eyes were more tired looking. She didn't look as young as he remembered her, and her sense of fashion had also changed. She no longer was flimsy normal college clothes, instead she was dressed more adult like. He knew it sounded stupid, but she was. She wore a pair of slacks a light blue blouse, like she was ready to go into a meeting.

Natsu had more scars on his arms than he last remembered, and his hair was cut shorter than how he used to wear it. He had deep circles under his eyes, like he didn't sleep often. He also noticed matching rings on each of his friends' fingers. They were married.

"So, it's true." Gray croaked. "Has it really been seven years?"

"Gray..." Lucy rushed to him and hugged him, but he didn't reciprocate the motion. He let her hug him, but he was numb. Seven years of his life was gone thanks to some fucker and he couldn't remember any of it. He was no longer that twenty-year-old aspiring college student who spent his day in school, only to go party at night with his friends and wake up the next day with a hangover and rush over to hockey practice. He was no longer a stupid kid. He was an adult. A twenty-seven-year-old one to be precise.

"Lucy," he said. "Do you have a mirror?"

The blonde looked at him with tender brown eyes, glistening in tears, but nodded and started digging though her purse until she found a pocket mirror. It was big enough to fit in Gray's hand, with a blue shade and a rimstone on the side. Gray wanted to laugh, even though the situation wasn't humorful. Some things never changed. Lucy was still Lucy. Her infatuation with gems and rimstones was still plain as day.

Gray took the pocket mirror and opened it. He could feel both Natsus' and Lucy's eyes on him. Surely, they were ready for him to freak out. Lucy was still on her feet and he could see her wringing her hands together. He was sure she was preparing herself to run out and call out for the doctor, but surprisingly, Gray was terrifyingly calm. As if his brain had finally grasped the situation of things and was ready to get everything over with.

Gray stared at his face for the longest time. His hair had grown very long, way longer than he would ever have it. His face was skinnier than he had ever had it; his cheeks were hollow, and he still had dark circles under his eyes. He had a scar above his eyebrow that he found familiar. He had a five o'clock shadow going on, that he brought his hand up to feel. He looked older and more mature. As he raised his hand to his face, he also noticed a few new scars on his hand and on his arm. If he had some on his arms, he probably had a lot on his chest, and on his legs.

"A lot has changed man." Natsu clasped his right shoulder. "But we are all still your friends and we will be here to help you out all the way man."

"The doctor said that there's a chance for you to recover your memories, but you had to undergo therapy," Lucy explained softly. "You also have to go through Physical therapy before you're able to leave."

"Yeah, man. You've been sleeping for eight months. You've turned into sleeping beauty." Natsu scrunched his nose in disgust. "Even though I don't think they did you any good; you're still really ugly."

"Natsu!" Lucy chided, but Natsu simply laughed and clapped Gray on the shoulder.

"Gray, we won't leave you alone." Lucy reassured him. Gray stared at his reflection in the tiny mirror. He had a whole new life that he didn't know about, but he was able to smile as he watched Lucy scold Natsu and bicker back and forth. His friends hadn't changed. He could do it. He would do everything he could to get his memory back. Even if he meant going to a shrink. He wanted his seven years back, and he would make sure to get them back.

 

 

 

_ Six months later. _

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gray groaned as he ran his hands over his face for like the twentieth time. He had been back at work for three months now and surprisingly a part of his brain new what being a cop was like. He easily learned everything he needed. He had found out that he had become a cop and that Natsu was his partner. They were both working their way up to becoming detectives, but Natsu being an idiot, had a long way to go, and since Gray had been in the accident and had amnesia, it was like he was starting all over again, even if he knew more than enough of what it took to be a detective. Being a cop wasn't bad pay, but it wasn't great either. Especially, with the load of paperwork he had to do every night.

Glancing over at the clock he noticed it was past midnight and that his paperwork was nowhere near done. As he was about to call it a day, stack his papers and go home, his office door was swung open and his pink friend busted in with two plastic bags.

"Oy, Ice Prick, I got us some take out, so we can finish our paperwork together." Without waiting for Gray to answer, Natsu shoved both bags on to him and ran to his office next door to Gray's to grab his own stack of papers. Soon, both of them were eating noodles and scrutinizing over papers of endless cases. His thoughts of taking leave long forgotten.

"So," Natsu said after a while of peaceful silence. He knew better than to expect anything from his chatterbox of a friend. "How did the appointment with this recent one go?"

Gray stopped midway as he was about to chopstick another mouthful of noodles. He looked away and glared at the floor. "It was no good. I don't feel comfortable with her."

Gray was ready for Natsu to call him out. After all, it was the seventh therapist he had gone through. His friends helped him look for the better ones; anything that could jot his memories, but he never felt comfortable with any of them. It was as if all of them were judging him, or simply pitying him and he hated that out of anything. He didn't receive sympathy or pity from any stranger. At first, he had thought it had just been that one, so he decided to change and look for a better one, but soon, after the fourth therapist, his hopes of getting his memories back had gone to shit. He couldn't open up to any of them. More than once, he would walk in, take one look at the person, listen to their first few words, before turning around and going back the way he came from and leaving on the spot.

"I expected that much," muttered Natsu. Instead of telling him to give up, since the way he was behaving would never allow him to sit through one session and help him recover his memories, his friend started digging through his pant pocket. "Damn. I have it in my uniform shirt." Natsu dragged himself towards his discarded uniform shirt on one of the corners of Gray's office, before standing up and showing his wallet. He pulled out a white card from the inside of it and handed it to Gray. "Here, I have a friend who is a therapist. She's really good at what she does. I'll talk to her and ask her to fit you in sometime this week."

Gray read over the name on the card and ran his thumb over the letters. "Why didn't you introduce her to me earlier?"

Natsu sat back down on his seat and grabbed his cup of noodles. "You know, Lucy."

"Huh?" Gray was confused. What did Lucy have to do with anything?

Taking in his confused expression, Natsu swallowed his mouthful of noodles and said: "You know how girls are. They easily get jealous."

Gray raised an eyebrow. "Was this one of your ex's or something?"

Natsu smirked with a knowing look, that Gray rarely saw on him. "Something like that. I'll give her a call tomorrow. She's super nice and she knows what she's doing. I'm sure she'll fit you in. I'll let you know what she says tomorrow."

Gray nodded as he took one last glance at the card, before he pocketed. "Also, don't tell Lucy, or she'll murder me."

Gray chuckled. "Don't worry, don't want you losing your memory either after she is done with you."

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

  
**From: Natsu**

_Oi. I talked to her. She said Friday at 4pm. Don't be late. She wasn't easy to persuade._

 

Gray read over the text message again to make sure he had gotten the time right and then stared at the business card to make sure he had driven to the right place. He had driven into the center of Magnolia. About thirty minutes away from the police station he worked at.

He was fifteen minutes early, and he really needed it, because he ended outside of a beautiful building that he never knew existed. It was three stories high and made of complete black non-see through glass. It was very beautiful, and there were many cars in the parking lot.

Every last spot was taken, so it took almost all fifteen minutes for Gray to find a parking spot. Walking up the steps–even the steps were made of some shiny glass material–he took out the card and made sure to look at the number: _413_ and made sure it matched with the building, or at least one of the floors.

Once he matched the number with the one in gold by the glass door, he realized that the whole building was either full of many therapists, or the whole building was solemnly for the therapist he was about to go see.

Once he walked into the building, he was hit by a gust of cold air and he almost sighed out loud out of relief. So far, every therapist building he had gone to, had been at room temperature and Gray had grown up in Alaska, so he was accustomed to the cold. The heat in Magnolia killed him almost every day. The place had already a promising outlook. It was cold, like he liked it.

As he walked in he was memorized with the décor of the building. It was very elegant. It had a spacious waiting room with black leathered seats–which also made him start thinking about how much his appointments would cost him–but what really grabbed his attention was the fish tanks. They were laid out on a table like you would see in any other office. No, these were part of the glass walls. He could see a plethora of them. Never ending, with hundreds of multicolored fish, and the tanks looked like they were taken care of well, since they weren't dirty.

He was so focused on the décor that he didn't notice when he made it to the front desk of the building, until he almost smacked right into it. It also looked like it was made of glass. Honestly, everything from outside to the inside of the building looked futuristic in a way, and way out of his price range, but if he had to pull extra hours at work, he would.

"And you are?" The girl behind the desk asked. She had brown hair and her eyes were the same color, never once looking up from her tablet.

"Gray Fullbuster," he said. He watched as she stopped typing all at once and looked up. Her eyes seemed to widen at his presence, but just as fast, she had her professional face back on and he took it as his imagination.

She made him sign a bunch of papers and fill out a bunch of health questions and before he knew it he was outside another waiting room on the third floor. It was almost the exact replica as the first floor, but this one had a smaller waiting room. He wasn't the only one waiting either. The waiting room was packed, but surprisingly the people there were really quiet and kept to themselves. Even the desks girls who oversaw showing them the way and providing them with anything they needed, were quiet.

Gray was glad about that. In the other firms he had gone to, the staff were always on him and would ask him what he was there for, as if his situation was to be treated lightly. He didn't take anything as a joke anymore. He was liking the place more and more by the second.

"Gray Fullbuster," Gray stood when he heard his name and a blonde petite woman smiled at him and asked him to follow her. Once they arrived outside a pitch-black door, the blonde woman knocked twice before she was asked to go in. She opened the door enough for her to look in smile. "Ma'am, your four o'clock is here."

The woman must've nodded for her to let him in, because the blonde woman ushered him in with a smile. Gray had always been an awkward man when he met new people, much less a therapist. So, he stood at the door even after the petite lady had left and closed the door behind him. One thing that soothed him was that the room was colder than the building itself and it helped him calm his nerves in an odd way.

"You must be Gray Fullbuster." Gray nodded as a pale woman with blue hair approached him and extended her hand to him. "My name is Juvia Lockser. I'll be your therapist from today on."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And she has appeared :)


	3. | 3 |

 

Gray wasn’t one to stare. He really _wasn’t._ Even if the room was very luxurious with a breathtaking view of Magnolia from the giant windows behind Dr. Lockser’s desk, or the subtle décor the room had. It wasn’t even the shiny piano in the far end of the room, or the giant tank of fish at one of the other corners. No. It wasn’t any of those things that caught his attention and made him catch his breath. It was her. _Her._ Dr. Lockers was the one that made him stare.

Even after their proper introduction, and they had sat down at her desk, he couldn’t stop ogling at how beautiful she was. Gray had always had his flings in college with many girls, but he wasn’t one to compliment and call them _beautiful,_ but Juvia Lockser was more than beautiful; she was _sexy._

She didn’t wear revealing clothes at all, but she did wear tight clothes that could only lead a man to imagine and Gray had a really _good_ imagination. She wore a dark blue long-sleeved dress that reached all they way down to her ankles, with a very dangerous slit that went up her right leg. Even more dangerous, was the low cut of her dress, that exposed a very good amount of cleavage that led to Gray swallowing in order to get rid of his dry throat. Dr. Lockser had long curly hair that reached her midback and mesmerizing blue eyes. She was very pale, but her cheeks and lips were a rosy pink.

“You’re a friend of Natsus’, right?” Gray snapped his attention back to Dr. Lockser and felt shameful for starring at her. He was there for help, not to ogle her. Not at the very moment. Maybe when she wasn’t looking he would.

Gray nodded in response. He couldn’t ever see Natsu dating someone like Dr. Lockser. She was out of both their league. Even if she was around their same age. She looked like a very well put together person. Something they both weren’t.

“So, tell Juvia, Mr. Fullbuster. Why are you here?” Dr. Lockser was wearing light blue glasses, but she took them off to look at him and smile softly.

Gray swallowed. “Just Gray is fine.”

She arched an eyebrow and smiled at him. “Very well. Gray-sama it is.” Gray was taken aback for a second, but before he could correct her, she continued: “You can just call me Juvia. That way we are more comfortable and more acquainted with one another.”

“Sounds good.” Gray said. Juvia leaned forward in her seat and cupped her hands together as she leaned on her elbows. She looked at him expectantly, so Gray told her his problem and what had happened to him. He was ready for Juvia to give him pitying look or to start writing on a notepad right out, but instead she nodded her head occasionally and kept her hands clasped tightly together, listening the whole way until she finished talking. Once he did, he prepared himself for her answer. Whatever her answer was, would determine if he staid or left. Juvia reached over for a pen, and Gray watched as she wrote down a couple of sentences before she looked back at him and smiled. _Smiled._ Gray wasn’t sure what to make out of it.

“That is very problematic. The good thing is that you made it out alive,” Gray felt himself deflate as he heard her speak. She was going to say the same thing as all those other therapists had said to him. He was alive. He should be grateful for that. Even if his memories didn’t come back, he should be happy that he was alive. All of them said that. He was about to excuse himself and leave, but Juvia kept speaking. “But it doesn’t matter, does it? For your friends and your loved ones, that’s the case, but for you, it was if you had really died. Those memories you’ve lost are very precious to you.” Gray gaped at her as she spoke. “That’s why, Juvia will try the best that she can to help you get them back.”

“Yeah,” Gray was dumbfounded. He hadn’t expected that answer from her. He had been sure she would’ve been the same as the others.

“Now, before we start trying to recall your past memories there are some things we have to work out.” Juvia took out a bigger notepad and put her blue glasses back on, and clicked a pen, and started writing. “We have to sort out everything you know now, so when you do start remembering, we can file them out. We also have to sort out how you’re feeling about this situation. Juvia has met many patients who have gone through memory loss, and all of them cope a different way. So, Juvia always starts from scratch and finds a pace and a strategy that works for every single individual.”

Gray stared at her sturdy hands and she wrote like lightning across the notepad. Her nails were painted a dark blue and he couldn’t help but find that very sexy.

“First of all, Juvia knows Gray-sama filled out all those papers out at front and probably didn’t read over every single word on there, so Juvia will go over another small packet with Gray-sama. That way she also has a good feeling of where she stands at.”

After she asked him basic questions regarding legal rights and his home address and phone number, she started asking him more serious questions.

“Gray-sama, when Juvia deals with clients that have gone through memory loss, she always needs two to three people that are willing to be on stand by for whenever I call them to confirm everything you might remember.” Juvia explained. “People that are close to Gray-sama. People that Gray-sama for sure knows would’ve been with him during his memory loss gap.”

Gray didn’t hesitate to give both Natsu’s and Erza’s name and number. They had grown up in the same neighborhood, gone to the same schools, and have been more like siblings than anything else.

Juvia smiled as she wrote the names and their contact information down. “Don’t worry, Gray-sama. I will let you know when Juvia will begging to contact them, so Gray-sama can let them know.” Juvia scribbled on her notepad some more. “Now, I need one name of a family member that will be needed for security and health reasons.”

Gray hesitated. He had both his siblings Ultear and Lyon, but both were busy people and lived a good two or three hours away. He didn’t want to bother them, but they were his only family that he had on paper, so he chose the one that he knew would answer their phone the most.

“My brother,” Gray said. “He’s my foster brother, but he is still my brother. Lyon Vastia.”

Juvia smiled as she wrote Lyon’s name down. “I know what Gray-sama means about foster siblings. Blood doesn’t make a family.”

“That’s true. He’s a dick and a pain in the ass most of the time, but he’s my brother.” Juvia chuckled at Gray’s comment and he couldn’t help but think that even her laugh was almost ethereal. “What do you mean you understand about foster brothers?”

Juvia looked up and smiled lightly. “Juvia has someone she grew up with in foster homes and he’s like a brother to her. He is her only family.” Gray decided not to pride more afterwards. He didn’t want to make things awkward between them since Juvia seemed a bit evasive about her past. They were out at a good start and Gray didn’t want to ruin things.

“Okay, that seems too be it.” Juvia got up. “Our sessions are two hours long, and we should make sure to have at least two every week. I have you down for Tuesday’s and Friday’s at the same time, four.” She walked around her desk and Gray did everything in his might not to stare at her ass. It was a very nice derriere, and her hips were to die for.

She smiled at him as they shook hands. Hers were soft and delicate. “Juvia will see you on Tuesday, Gray-sama.”

Gray nodded, and made his way out, glancing once more back to be greeted by her sweet smile and a wave of her hand. With a purposeful stride down the hall to the exit, Gray finally realized he had found the therapist that he had been looking for. One that would really help him get his memories back, or at least attempt to try and _really_ help him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the journey only gets better over time


	4. | 4 |

| 4 |

Three days later Gray laid on his couch after a long day at work. Natsu and him had been on patrol. It was usually boring, all they had to do was park at the side of a specific road and wait for any speeders, but then everything went to shit. Some stupid teenage kids had decided to go car racing; right in front of them. What kind of idiot went street racing right in front of a cop?

Gray and Natsu ended up having to chase after them for a good thirty minutes before they called for backup and they were able to block their way and detain them. The only problem was that after they stopped the two cars full of teenagers and their hormones, they realized that they had all ben intoxicated and _underage,_ and they had all different types of drugs in their backseat. One of them had tried to escape. They had punched Gray in the face, catching him by surprise because he had been attendant to some other matter and then he had brought out a pocket knife and tried to stab Natsu in the stomach area. Thankfully, he only managed to graze the pink haired man, before he was taking down once more.

Gray sighed. It had been a long night and long reports with literally everything on it: DUI, underage drinking, assault and aggression, and possession. If it wasn’t bad enough, Natsu was sent home, even if his injury wasn’t as bad, Lucy had come in spewing fire out of her mouth over her husband. Until, the sheriff ended up letting him go. Even _he_ didn’t want to mess with Lucy. She could be scary many times, especially if it had to do with her husband, _but_ that meant that Gray had been stock writing out all the report and taking care of the paper work by himself.

Looking over at the clock he had hanging above his flat screen TV in the living room, he saw it read _3: 43 am._ He groaned as he got up. He had to be up by five am in the morning––that morning––he wasn’t going back to sleep. Reaching for the remote control, he switched on the TV and the Magnolia News came on. One of his friends from back in college, Erza, worked as a news anchor and she was on. It looked it had been a re run from the news earlier in the day. Erza was smiling brightly into the camera with a sparkle in her eye. She wore a nice dress that he knew would make any of the guys watching the news go crazy, but Erza was like a sister to him, so to make sure she was alright, he made sure he watched the news. Her job, like his, occupied a lot of her time and didn’t have much time to hang out with their friends. She had come and seen him after he was released from the hospital and almost put him back in it with her bear crushing hug.

Gray felt his eyes wonder around his apartment. He never remembered moving into it, but it did suit him. First, when he had walked in, it had been _way_ below 60 degrees, which he knew he was the only one that ever did that. His walls were a black color all over the halls and corridors. His living room was also a dark grey color, along with his room and the guest room. The only two places that were a bit odd had been the kitchen and the bathroom. The kitchen had more cookware than he had ever remembered owning, and the walls had been a soft green with light blue flowers decorating it. The bathroom was along the same, only the walls had been a light blue, and it was decorated by light pink jellyfish. Even his shower curtain had been a light blue with more jellyfish. He was sure one of the girls had pestered him in the past until he had caved in. He was sure that Lucy and––

 

_The flashback hit him so suddenly, that he almost fell over. He was sitting on his couch, shirtless. He had been watching one of his favorite detective movies, when the door to his apartment flew open. He looked over only to see all of his friends walk in with buckets of paint and bags full of stencils._

_“What the hell?” he said._

_“We’re here for some renovations!” Lucy was bouncing on her feet, her hair up in a bun._

_“Don’t worry, Gray. You’ll be content after we are done with your place.” Erza had a winning smile on her face and a mischievous look on her face. Her hair was down, and she was wearing an apron over her clothes._

_“Why do I have to be dragged into this?” Natsu groaned, looking over in desperation at Gray for help. Gray was looking at them incredulously, even though he felt like he shouldn’t be surprised, he was used to his friends barging in all the time._

_“Well, it’s the least we could do for you, Gray.” Levy said. She was one of the girls int their group during college and she was one of the smartest people there. She was petite with blue hair and brown eyes. She also had a bucket of paint in both of her hands._

_“I brought the booze!” Gray groaned at Cana’s comment. He had to work early the next day and it would be a shitty day if he had to go in with a hangover. Cana wasn’t carrying anymore supplies, just the beer. Her brown hair was down, and she was wearing her usual flimsy get up: Shorts and the tiniest shirt ever._

_“Remind me,” Natsu said as he sat down next to Gray on the couch as the girls made their way into he kitchen. “Why do we have so many friends that are girls?”_

_Gray shook his head. “Who came up with this ridiculous idea?”_

_Natsu chuckled. “They all had a sleep over yesterday. You know_ who _was exited to spend the whole day together for your twenty second birthday today. They came up with this genius idea.”_

 _Gray threw his head back and covered his eyes in annoyance, but he couldn’t help it as a small smile made its way on to his mouth._ She _always had something under her sleeve, she––_

Gray was breathing hard once the flashback ended. Had he really remembered something? He ran his hands over his already dishelved hair. The back of his neck was covered in cold sweat, and he felt like a bucket of icy water had just been dumped all over his head. He reached into his pocket for his phone and unlocked it to start running through the names in his contacts, until he found the name he wanted: _Dr. Lockser._

He hesitated as he looked at the time once more. It was almost 4 am and she could’ve been sleeping. Could he really disturb her? Later on, in the day he did have an appointment with her, it was already Tuesday after all. A wave of panic washed over his body. What if he didn’t remember by then? His memories disappeared once, so they could disappear again. He hit the call button before he even realized what he was doing.

“Yes?” Gray was surprised when Juvia answered the phone, not even sounding as if she had been asleep. If it had been him, he would’ve been pissed, and his voice would’ve been more than groggy.

“Juvia.” Her name sounded foreign coming out of his lips. He felt as if he didn’t have a right to call her by her first name. “It’s Gray. Gray Fullbuster.”

“Oh, Gray-sama. How can I help you?” she asked.

Gray told her about his flashback in the most detail as he could. Not once did Juvia stop him, not even to complain about him calling her at 4 am. He wondered if she had really been sleeping, because he heard rummaging on the other side of the line and then he heard steady typing. Had she been home? Or at her office? Had she even been sleeping?

When he finished talking, Juvia stayed silent on the other side of the line for the longest time. He was sure she had hung up on him for sure, but then he heard the clinking of a pen and a small ‘hmm.’

“This is really good, Gray-sama.” Gray couldn’t help but hold his breath. “I will have something for Gray-sama tomorrow that will help him. You remembering is good, especially if it has to do with your friends. If it continues like this then it looks like a good outcome. We also have to talk about visiting your doctor and having more brain scans done.” Juvia explained. “If you do get flashbacks, there can be many factors with it and what can happen.”

Gray found himself nodding and surprisingly hanging on every word she said. Gray was impatient. He wanted more; he _needed_ more of his memories. “Do you think I could have more? Get them all back now?”

“Juvia doesn’t want to give Gray-sama false hope,” Gray wanted to grasp on the bit of hope he had received. “But if Juvia talks to some of Gray-sama’s friends and they say the memory is real, then the chances are higher and Gray-sama might remember.”

Gray nodded and then realizing that she could see him, he voiced out his thoughts. “Ok. Thanks for answering me, even if it was so late in the night.”

Juvia chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m your therapist. Juvia is here whenever Gray-sama needs her. He can call her whenever and forever. Juvia is here for Gray-sama.”

Gray wasn’t sure how to answer her, so he simply agreed. He wasn’t used to anyone laying out things so well for him, so he bid his goodbye and promised her he would show up on time later on and hung-up. His face was warm. He wondered if he was catching a cold.

 

***

 

“So,” Natsu said as he munched on a donut while they were on patrol. Gray was driving; like always. “How’d it go with Juvia?”

Gray glanced over at is pink haired friend. “It went rather well. Thanks for recommending her to me.” Remembering that Juvia had said she would call one of his friends to ask about his memory, he said: “Oh, by the way. Juvia said she would call either you or Erza sometime today.” He explained about what happened earlier that morning and how he had also given Juvia his and Erza’s contact in order for her to check if his memories were real or not. He even shared the flashback he had gotten. He expected for Natsu to be happy for him, but instead his friends gave him a weird expression when he finished telling him.

“Is that all you remembered?” Natsu asked.

“Yeah,” Gray said. “So, was it real? Or…?”

Natsu shook his head. “We should wait for Juvia to ask either me or Erza. It’s better for her to decide.” He kept staring at Gray. “Are you sure that’s where that flashback ended?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you forgetting that anything can help me?” Gray countered. “It’s not my fault that I got stuck with this stupid amnesia that I can’t do anything about it!”

His jib didn’t seem to affect Natsu at all. Instead he rolled his eyes and continued stuffing his face with donuts. Gray looked at his friend. “So,” he stared, keeping his eyes on the road. “How did you and Juvia meet? You said you guys dated?”

“It’s complicated man,” he said. “Juvia is too nice.”

Gray managed to glance at him and he was surprised to find Natsu with a solemn look on his face. “She is a great person. I see her more as a sister.” Natsu continued. He gave Gray a serious face. “Please don’t tell Lucy about this. She’d have a fit.”

Gray nodded. He wanted to press Natsu more about his ex-relationship with Juvia, but he seemed very evasive about it. “Wait, don’t tell me you have a crush?” Natsu teased.

Gray almost slammed on the breaks. “Are you an idiot? I’m only asking because of curiosity!” Gray felt heat on the back of his neck.

Natsu laughed. “Whatever you say! Juvia is good looking; wouldn’t blame you if you were smitten by her. She has many admirers.”

Gray felt piqued. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of men chasing after Juvia made him irritated. He tried to clear his thoughts about the matter. She was simply his therapist. Sure, she had killer looks, and a pair of killer legs, but he wasn’t there for any relationships. His life was too screwed up at the moment to think of anything else.

It wasn’t long before it was time for him and Natsu to head back to work and drop of the patrol car they had been cruising in. Gray had gotten permission to leave for a few hour for his session with Juvia, but he would have to come back afterwards. There had been many recent violent crimes in the area and he had to stay late to help his boss piece the clues together.

Juvia was sitting at her desk like she had last time when he walked in. instantly, feeling the cool air from the room hit him. He noticed her room smelled like lavender as he walked over to take a seat. Juvia had her hair up in a bun with many pencils sticking up from various ends. She wore another dark blue dress and this one expose less skin, but it felt as if Gray was looking at more.

“Gray-sama,” she smiled at him. “You’re just on time.” She grabbed something from under her desk from a cabinet and handed it to him. It was a black journal. The hard cover kind. It had a gold strap keeping it closed. He looked at her with a questioning expression.

“Open it,” she said. Gray did as he was told. The first page was blank, but the second one was full of perfectly cursive writing in blue ink. It dated to that same date. As he started reading, he realized two things. He had never thought he was able to read cursive; he must’ve picked it up at some point. Maybe during the time, he had forgotten and somehow still kept the skill. The second thing was that Juvia had written down his flashback in great details. Almost word for word from what he had said the night before.

“This is…?”

“It will be an asset for Gray-sama to keep this journal close to him.” Juvia explained. “If he were to get another flashback, it would be very helpful for him to write it down as soon as possible. That way he doesn’t forget anything.” Juvia stood from her seat and walked around her desk to his side. “Juvia wrote down the one from last night, but it is Gray-sama’s job from now on to keep up with it.”

Gray stared at the perfectly scribbled wiring on the page before he nodded and closed it with the golden strap. “I understand.”

Juvia watched him for a few seconds. It was as she were analyzing every single thing he did. Which wasn’t much, he was just sitting awkwardly there. “So,” he said. “It was a real memory, tight?”

“Yes,” she said. “Juvia spoke with Erza-san this morning. She confirmed it.” Her expression was that of delight. “It seems that Gray-sama is really starting to remember.”

Gray felt the ball of anxiety he had been carrying in him since early in the morning disappears and he felt a wave of relief hit him almost instantly. He had been scared –– He wasn’t one to admit that –– he had been appalled at the thought that he had fabricated that memory out of nowhere. He was desperate to get back everything he lost, the he could see his brain doing that. He had heard people with memory had a tendency to do that.

“Gray-sama,” Juvia was looking at him with a hot intensity that it made him want to stand up to. “Follow Juvia.”

Juvia didn’t wait for his response as she stride purposefully toward the back of the room, by the piano and a bunch of seats. Gray noticed that even her walk was very lithe. She stopped to turn back at him. “Please lay down on the seat.” She pointed at a brown leathered reclining chair that sat on the opposite side of the black piano. Gray scrutinized Juvia’s solemn expression for a second. He was trying to see if she was joking or at least try to get a clue on what she was going about. “Are you telling me to nap?”

Juvia smiled. “Of some sort. Please do as Juvia says Gray-sama. She is only testing a theory.”

“A theory?” he questioned.

Juvia gave him a serious look. “Yes. She believes that she has found an easier way to return Gray-sama’s memories.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Juvia might've found a way!


	5. | 5 |

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gray is an honorary girl ♥

>  

Gray felt as if he were floating in a never-ending river. His eyes were droopy, and they kept threatening to shut on him. He felt relaxed and so at peace as he heard her fingers run along the surface of the piano and she played such a catching and soothing tune. It was so strange, the song felt so familiar. Like he had heard it somewhere before. It made his chest ache, as if his heart remembered, but his brain didn’t.

He could hear her as she said something to him over the soothing song, but he was so deep in that he couldn’t answer. The endearing melody had him under its clutches and he wasn’t willingly going to leave. The notes displayed themselves out to him and he knew if he were fully awake he would be pissed at himself for sounding so foolish, but he _wasn’t_ fully awake he was –

_The image didn’t last more than three seconds before it disappeared. He was sitting looking up at a stage. It looked like it was a concert. On his side, Natsu was cheering loudly; he wore a black suit, and on his left, Erza wore an elegant dress and she was smiling so proudly, like a mother. Lucy was reaching over to him from the other side of Natsu’s side––_

Gray sat up as he panted. He ran his hands over his hair. He had gone to a concert with his friends. He wasn’t where it had been or whose concert it had been, but it looked like it had been part of his university band. He remembered that Cana had been part of the band; she had played the flute. Had he gone with everyone to go watch her play?

“Gray-sama?” Gray looked up and finally remembered where he was. He was with Juvia in her office. She had told him that music could be a therapeutic way for him to remember, so she had gone ahead and had started playing the piano…and it looked like it had worked, but he was still shaken. The image had been there one second and gone the next.

“Did Gray-sama remember something?” Gray didn’t answer her as he reached over the black journal she had given him. He took a pen from his shirt pocket and started scribbling away in desperation. The image felt so fragile; like if he stopped to think, it could easily disappear. Once he was satisfied with what he had written he gave the notebook to Juvia,

“This…” she whispered as she read on, her eyes going wide. “You…”

Gray shook his heat at loss. “I don’t know if its an actual memory or if I had made it up,”

Juvia’s face was unreadable. She seemed to be thinking really hard as she chewed on her bottom lip. “I’ll discuss this with one of your two contacts later,” she finally decided. She looked at him with worry clear in her eyes. “How does Gray-sama feel?”

Like shit, and like a car had run him over, but Gray didn’t say that out loud. “Fine. Just need sleep.”

Juvia nodded as if his suggestion was right. “Yes,” she agreed. “Our session is done as well. Does Gray-sama feel well enough to drive?”

Gray stood but didn’t feel as shaken and presuming he would stay standing as long as possible je was just fine with driving himself to school. “I’m fine,” he said, shrugging off her concern. All he wanted was to lay in bed and sleep.

Juvia hesitated, but finally said, “If Gray-sama is sure, then okay,” Then. “Call Juvia if you need to talk about anything. She will speak about this during our appointment on Friday.”

***

Gray called into work, letting them know he wouldn’t be able to go back in like he promised. Laxus was very pissed, since they always seemed to be low on staff, but once Gray had explained to him that he didn’t feel so well, the blond man simply told him that he expected him to be back bright and early on Wednesday.

Gray laid in bed and thought over his session with Juvia. Her piano playing had been so smooth, and it seemed to bring him into a trance, but he felt like he had heard that piece played before. Not just the music, but the way _she_ –– Juvia –– played it tugged at him, like it wasn’t the first time he’d heard that style of playing.

He had spent most of his time back in his apartment reading over what he and Juvia had written in his journal. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it. It was like having a diary, and the thought of it like that made him not like it that much. Since Juvia believed it would help him with his memories, he had no other choice but to accept it.

He hadn’t been very hungry, so he had gone straight to bed and had been scrolling through his phone when he received a message.

 

**From: Dr. Lockser**

_5:53: Hello, Gray-sama. This is Juvia. I just wanted to make sure that you got home safely._

 

Gray was a bit surprised to hear from her so quickly.

 

**To: Dr. Lockser**

_5:55: I did. No need to worry._

 

**From: Dr. Lockser**

_5:57: But that’s why Juvia is here for. To worry over Gray-sama._

_5:57: She also wanted to know if Gray-sama has had any other types of flashbacks? Or anything related to that?_

**To: Dr. Lockser**

_5:58: No. Not yet at least._

**From: Dr. Lockser**

_6:01: Don’t worry Gray-sama, everything comes with patience._

 

Gray didn’t text her after her last message. Juvia was an optimist for sure, it was also part of her job, but Gray couldn’t help but feel encouraged by her words. He sat up in her bed. The sheets were scattered all over the floor–– it was too hot for them to have any use, and the curtains were drawn, so the only light in his room was that from his phone. He hesitated for a second, but he kept himself from being a coward as he changed Dr. Lockers name to _Juvia_ in his contact. He chuckled at himself as a small smile made its way on to his lips.

He groaned at himself after realizing what he had done. He was acting like such a girl. If any of the guys at work had seen him acting the way he was, he wouldn’t ever hear the end of it. Scolding himself mentally once again, he wanted to roll over and fall into a blissful slumber he had much earned after endless nights of late shifts at the PD and unresolved minor case of insomnia he seemed to have acquired.

Still, something peaked his curiosity as he opened his Facebook up and typed in Juvia’s name. It didn’t take long to find her. Her profile picture was of her smiling sweetly at the camera. Her hair was pulled back in a high pony tail and her eyes showed some kind of determination. Her other picture, the longer one in the background was what caught his attention. It was a picture of her and a tall, lean guy with black hair, and many piercings on his ear and nose. His eyes were also red. Juvia’s hair was down in that picture and she was hugging the guy. Her smile was wide and happy, and her eyes gleamed with mischief. They were in some kind of park. The guy was looking at her in annoyance.

Gray felt something in his chest, but he ignored it. He read her status, and it said she was single. He wondered if the guy was a friend or a close relative. Gray wasn’t one to jump at conclusions right out, he was a cop after all. After scrolling through her page for a good ten minutes, he realized two things. One, was that Juvia really liked jelly fished, and two, was that Juvia’s page reflected her image. It was professional, other than one or another picture of her with some sea creature, and straightforward. It showed that she didn’t have many friends. At least not any that Gray recognized. As he went for Instagram, he stopped himself. Was he really _stalking_ his therapist? Gray exited out of all his pages, groaned and threw his phone on to the desk by his bed. He couldn’t believe himself. He had really gone and stalked his therapist. He was crazy. He wouldn’t ever be able to look at her without feeling guilty. Okay, that was an exaggeration. There was no way that he couldn’t _look_ at her. Juvia was too sexy for him not to ogle her once in a while. Shoving his head into his pillow, he tried to get some sleep, but the image of Juvia and her tight dresses kept appearing in his mind. He groaned in defeat as he realized that it would be a very long night.


	6. | 6 |

 

Gray sauntered into _C Frank’s_ on Thursday after a late shift at work, with Natsu close behind him. They had both agreed to meet Lucy and their friend Cana at their favorite diner–– Gray was so happy that the diner had still been there. It had been one of their go to hangouts during high school. Francie, the owner of the diner, had been more than delighted to see Gray. She had gushed over him telling him that he should’ve come sooner to see her. Gray had laughed but didn’t mention he had been in a coma. He felt as if the less people knew about it the better.

“Hey,” Lucy waved from a booth by the window. “Over here you guys.”

Cana was with Lucy, sitting beside her. She looked exhausted once Gray sat down and took a better look at her. Her hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days and her eyes had bags under them, creating dark purplish dark shadows.

“When did you die and come back to life?” Gray commented, only to earn a slap from Lucy and a steely glare from Cana.

“Yeah, Cana.” Natsu was staring at her. “You look like the living dead.” At least Gray had back up. “You’re like a character from that one show, what was it called? Lucy is obsessed with it. The Walking Dead? It––Ow!” Natsu rubbed the side of his arm where Lucy had slapped him.

“Ha ha.” Cana sighed. “My job isn’t easy, and each day it seems that I keep getting more and more kids.”

“I still can’t believe you’re working as a social worker when you hate kids.” Gray said pointedly. “Out of everyone, I expected for you to be the last one to work with kids. I saw Lucy or Mirjane making that their paths.”

Cana rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well I’m sorry that Law ended up being the worst career path I had ever chosen.”

“Don’t listen to him Cana.” Lucy defended her friend. “Those two barely get any sleep either. They probably have worst eyebags than both of us combined.”

“Hey!” Natsu defended himself. “You’re the one who has it easy. You’re an elementary school teacher!”

“It’s not my fault you two idiots decided to become cops,” Lucy countered as she pulled the sleeve of Natsu’s cop uniform. Even Gray hadn’t had enough time to change, so he too was wearing his police uniform.

“I think its been a while since we’ve all hung out like this,” Lucy said as she crossed her arms over her pink dress. Her hair was up in a pony tail this time.

“It sure has,” Cana agreed. “Even though we still need the whole rest of the gang.”

“Yeah,” Natsu rolled his eyes. “As if this place could stand all nine of us all over again.”

Gray scrunched his eyebrows. “Eight of us?” Gray asked. “there’s only six of us fire breath.”

For a second, Gray saw a wave of panic cross over Natsu’s face, but it was gone so fast he felt as if he had imagined it.

“Whoa, Natsu.” Lucy rolled her eyes at him, but even her voice sounded a pitch higher than usual. “Can’t believe you can’t add still. At this point I feel bad for everyone working with you at the station.” Lucy’s teasing smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Shut up, Lucy,” Natsu’s cheeks were slightly pink. “Those punks wouldn’t survive a day without me.”

“I’m sure we would be fine,” Gray said jokingly, and the girls erupted in laughter. He would never admit to Natsu how much he needed him as a partner in their field of work. It would quickly inflate his friend’s ego, and he already had a big one as it was.

“Listen, Gray, are you looking for a fight?” Natsu started, but Gray’s attention was long as the corner of his eye caught sight of something blue and long and familiar walking by him. Gray turned only to catch her back as she walked towards the door.

“Juvia!” he couldn’t help himself calling after her. It was almost out of instinct. Like he _had_ to call after her or something bad would happen. He wasn’t sure why and he felt as if his brain was exaggerating, but he spoke before he could stop himself. “Juvia! Wait!”

Gray was already out of his seat, chasing after, reaching out for her arm. She turned, and her smile was almost breathtaking. She was wearing professional clothes, long blue dress that had a dangerous slit––she probably had gotten out of work.

 

“Gray-sama,” she sounded out of breath as she looked at him.

 

Gray retracted his hand from her arm. “Hey,” he said suddenly very aware about how he looked. He was still wearing his uniform, hadn’t showered all day and his hair was probably a mess. “I saw you walk by and was wondering if you wanted to join us.” Gray pointed with his thumb back the dining table where his friends where looking at him in confusion.

Juvia’s face went pale for a second as she looked back his friends. A familiar expression mirrored his friends. Gray blinked, and then they were all back to normal. Lucy was smiling, Cana looked uninterested and Natsu was scarfing down Lucy’s fries.

Juvia hesitated. “Juvia isn’t sure. She doesn’t want to interrupt Gray-sama’s time with his friends.”

Gray tried giving her a welcoming look. “Don’t worry,” he shrugged a shoulder. “they don’t bite, and you know Natsu, so it’s no problem.”

Juvia seemed to hesitate once more, but she seemed to concede that Gray wasn’t someone who took ‘no’ as an answer. “Okay,” she finally said with a small smile. She hiked her black purse and followed Gray to the table.

“Hey,” Gray said to his friends as they all looked at Juvia wide eyed. Natsu was giving him a panicked look, and Gray finally realized what kind of an idiot he was. Lucy would know about Juvia, probably from the moment he saw her. He had promised Natsu he wouldn’t say anything.

“My name is Juvia Lockser,” Juvia cut in before he said anything else. She shook hands with everyone and they introduced each other, except for Natsu who kept giving Juvia and Gray a terrified look. Gray gave a weary look towards Lucy and her lips were in a thin line. Shit. “Juvia is Gray-sama’s…” Juvia hesitated and gave Gray a look, probably asking for permission to tell them her profession and involvement with him. Once he nodded, she continued. “Juvia is Gray-sama’s therapist.

“Juvia,” Lucy smiled softly, she glanced over at Natsu and gave him a steely look. Oh, no. Gray would have to apologize later. “Gray had told us he had gotten a new therapist, but we never knew it was someone we knew.”

Lucy and Juvia shared a silent conversation and Gray left it to the side as a girl thing. He knew better than to get involved in to something like that.

“Oh, yes.” Juvia smiled. “Natsu recommended him; I’m sure he told you about our history.” Shit. Gray glanced at his friend and he was pale as hell. All the girls were looking at him with deadly eyes. Gray decided to step in before things became worst for his friend.

Gray reached over for one of the chairs in the other table and pulled it to the end of the booth. “Sit,” he told Juvia at the now open spot where he had been sitting at before, he wouldn’t let her sit on the chair. “Join us for a while.” He tried to give all his friends a look of ‘Be nice to her, or else,’ he hoped it went across to everyone.

Juvia sat down and gave him a thankful smile.

“So,” Cana started as she sipped her beer. “You’re Gray’s shrink. Tell us about your way into becoming one.” Cana gave her a look. “You’re Lockser, right? Your work is well known.”

“Yes,” Juvia gave a shy smile. “Juvia guesses. She’s been on the news a lot lately and she had been getting more patients recently.”

“What did you major in during school?” Lucy asked, cupping her coffee in her hands.

“Psychology and Behavioral Science.” Juvia drummed her hands softly against the table. “It was the best times of my life. Therapy was always my goal for future career.”

“Ooh, Behavioral Science, almost like Human Behavior, like in Criminal Minds?” Lucy’s eyes were sparkling, Gray wanted to snort, but then he hold himself back when he saw an equal look of admiration in Juvia’s blue eyes.

“Yes!” Juvia scooted closer in her seat, even Cana seemed interested. “Juvia has watched all thirteen seasons so far!”

“Favorite season?” Cana asked.

“Season two, episode fifteen, Revelations.” Juvia said. Gray stared at her.

“No, way.” Lucy gave her a perplexed look. “You do know what happens to Reid, right?”

Juvia nodded. “But we get to know so much more about him, it’s worth it.”

“You’re sick, woman.” Cana said, but then all girls started laughing and Gray couldn’t help but look at Natsu in question. His pink hair friend shrugged his shoulders, in defeat. Gray would never understand the type of friends he made. Still, he couldn’t help but let a small smile slip on his lips. He was glad that the girls were getting along with Juvia. Even if he knew that Natsu was screwed and would get a beating from Lucy later. Gray might or might not apologize later.

It wasn’t long before Juvia ordered; getting caramel franks, which Gray had to teach her how to eat. She ate it so messily. He couldn’t believe she had never eaten it before. They had all fallen into a comfortable conversation. Lucy was no longer giving Natsu a death glare, and Cana was actually participating in the conversation and drinking slow enough so she could speak.

“So,” Gray said as they finished telling some ridiculous story about him and Natsu when they were in college. “What college did you go to?”

Everyone seemed to go still, as if what he had said was like a bomb dropped into a field of people. Gray raised an eyebrow. Had he asked something wrong? Seeing their discomfort, Juvia sighed. “I guess you guys know by now,” she said as it was obvious. Everyone steely nodded. Was Gray the only one that hadn’t figured it out? Juvia smiled at him apologetically. “The only school that offers Behavioral science as a major around here is Phantom Lord university,” Gray looked at her in realization.  “Juvia knew that was the last school Gray-sama had faced, before…” Gray nodded as she trailed off. “Juvia didn’t want to touch a nerve. Everyone seemed to get it, so Juvia didn’t think she should have said so. I guess they were just shocked.” Everyone nodded in an agreement.

Gray rolled his eyes at his friend’s silliness. “Don’t worry, I’m fine. It’s not like I’ll die from something like that.” No one would meet his eyes, and before he could ask anything else, Francie came along with the bill, making the subject of the conversation change.

 

…

 

Gray walked beside Juvia as they made their way to the parking lot, towards her car. He couldn’t stop glancing at her and her contagious smile. His friends and her had hit it off very fast, and he was glad that they liked her.  

Juvia drove a very nice and very expensive looking Toyota. It looked like the newest model of the camera, and the white paint job was slick. Juvia laughed when she saw his astonished face.

“Yeah,” she said sheepishly. “I’ve been getting that look from a lot of my friends. It was a gift from––” Juvia hesitated. “––my brother. My birthday was a few months back.”

“Must be a really good brother, what does he work as?” Gray asked, leaving out the question that he really wanted to ask. Why had she hesitated?

“He’s a business man,” she said with a tiny smile. Gray waited for details, but when none came, he knew Juvia didn’t want to talk about it.

“I hope you liked my friends,” Gray said as he scratched the back of his head, a nervous tick he had picked up from early age.

“Yes,” Juvia had a faraway look in her eyes. “Tonight, reminded Juvia of her days in college.” She smiled sadly. “Makes Juvia realize time goes by so fast and waits for no one.”

Gray nodded in understanding. He better than anyone had faced that truth head on. Time hadn’t waited for him. He had no memory of his life seven years ago, and he had been in a coma for almost eight months. He knew time waited for no one. Gray didn’t want to think about it, but he was close to thirty, and he still thought like a college boy most of the time. Most nights he had to convince himself not to go clubbing, reminding himself that he was no longer in college or a teenager. In the mornings he would look in the mirror and his reflection would remind him that his memories were missing.

As he slowly regains some of his memories, time goes by very fast, and it isn’t waiting for Gray. Fear also creeps in his mind all the time, it could be possible he could have a relapse and all his memories would disappear. Would he had to start all over again?

He must’ve been making a very disturbed expression, because Juvia reached over and squeezed his shoulder in comfort.

“Don’t worry, Gray-sama,” she said with a soft smile. “I’ll do everything I can to help you get your memories back.”

Gray wanted to believer her, but something in the back of his mind told him it wouldn’t be easy.


	7. | 7 |

 

 

One second he was looking at the green light as he started moving the car forward, Natsu was chowing down on some donuts beside him, like always—his police uniform was getting pink frosting on it, Lucy wouldn't be happy when she had to do laundry —the next moment he was in the rink. The ice rink back in Magnolia University.  
  
"Gray!" Gray was skating towards the puck, two guys on either side of him.   
  
"Gray!" It was Natsu. His haired pink friend was waving his hockey stick wildly. He had an opening, and before anyone else could notice what was happening, Gray hit the puck towards his pink friend––   
  
And then he was inside a car. He was driving. He didn't know where. He was angry; infuriated. Why was he mad? He could see himself yelling at someone in the passenger side, but he couldn't see their face. Gray desperately tried to concentrate as he looked in front of him, but someone was speaking to him.   
  
"Please," they said. "It will only be for two months, and then you can go back."   
  
"You don't understand!" Gray heard himself answer. "I'm so close to making it. If I take this two-month break, it might ruin things."   
  
Gray saw himself keep talking, but he could no longer hear. He could only hear screams. He wasn't sure if I was a man's or a woman's voice.   
  
"Gray!"   
  
"Gray!"   
  
He was back, and just in time, because he turned the steering wheel the furthest he could, only to end up on top of a sidewalk on the side of the road.   
  
"Jesus Christ!" Natsu was staring at him with wide eyes. His donuts had fallen on to his lap. "What the hell was that?"   
  
Gray couldn't answer him, because the next thing he knew his breathing had become shallow and his chest hurt. He couldn't breather. He couldn't breathe.   
  
"Oh, shit." He heard Natsu curse, but it was like he was light years away. Gray. Couldn't. Breathe. "You're having a panic attack man, get out of the car!"   
  
Gray couldn't do anything. His vision was blurry, and his hands wouldn't stop clutching on to the steering wheel. He felt like his lungs would collapse at any second. He felt so cold, but he remembered that it was supposed to be up in the nineties that day.   
  
The next thing he knew, he was being pulled out of the passenger seat and on to the side of the road up the curb. He crawled on the grass. He could hear someone calling his name and trying to hold him. They were moving him, trying to sit him with his head in between his knees but Gray couldn't. He just couldn't.   
  
Why did it have to be him? Why did he have to lose his memory? Why was he trying so hard? All his life, all he had experienced was loss and pain. What guaranteed him that those seven years he had lost weren't full of loss and sadness too?   
  
He could feel his consciousness fading away. The recent flashback still playing on the back of his mind. What had it been? Who had been sitting beside him? Why had they been screaming?   
  
The next thing he knew, he could breathe again. It was like he was breaking through the surface of an ocean. Oxygen rushed into his lungs and his hearing became clear again. He could hear the sound of cars driving by, the chirp of birds in the trees, the own pounding in his head and—   
  
"Gray-sama," her voice. It was melodic and euphoretic.   
  
"Gray-sama," she kept speaking. "Listen to Juvia, breathe in and out. Steadily. It's okay. You are safe."   
  
He gasped as he came to. His vision was blurry.   
  
"What exactly happened, Natsu-sun?" Juvia's voice sounded like morphed ripples in a pond.   
  
"He just zoned out," Natsu answered. "One second he was driving normally and the next thing he was almost hitting the back of some truck. He started screaming and then he had the panic attack."   
  
"How long has he been like this?" Gray could feel Juvia's hand on his back-rubbing circles, trying to calm his down.   
  
"Five minutes since I called you," Natsu had called her? "Good thing we were close by your office."   
  
Oh, Gray thought numbly. I forgot we had been driving somewhere close by her office.   
  
"Should we call an ambulance?" Juvia asked, and that seemed to sap Gray out of his petrified state. He never wanted to go back to a hospital.   
  
"No," he croaked. He tried clearing his throat. "No, I'm fine."   
  
Natsu offered him his hand and helped him stand up. "You good man?"   
  
"Yeah," Gray said wiping himself clean. "Just zoned out for a bit."   
  
"I don't think that's all," Juvia interjected, she was giving him a look he could decipher. "I think it's better that you come with me back to my office."   
  
"What?" Gray asked. "Why?"   
  
"We need to talk over some stuff, especially this." Juvia turned towards Natsu. "Can you tell Laxus that Gray won't be able to go back today?"   
  
"Yeah," Natsu said. "I'll take the car back and let him know."   
  
"Don't you think I have a say in this?" Gray asked perplexed.   
  
"Juvia is sorry, Gray-sama," she didn't look sorry at all. "but you almost killed your friend while driving. Juvia believes we should sit down and talk."   
  
                                ...   
  
Gray couldn't stop fidgeting as Juvia typed away something on her laptop. Something kept nagging him at the corner of his mind. How did Juvia know Laxu's name? She had sounded so sure that he was the one in charge, but Gray had never listed his name under his work description. He had only written down the address and phone number for the PD.   
  
The ringing of Juvia's phone made them both jump.   
  
"Sorry," she said. Her face had morphed into something unfamiliar as she read the name of the caller. "I have to take this call."   
  
Gray simply nodded, he expected her to walk out, but she answered the phone right in front of him. Her blue eyes seemed stormier than ever.   
  
"Hello?" she answered. "Yes, this is her."   
  
Gray could hear the muffled voice on the other side of the line, but he couldn't make out what they were saying.   
  
"Yes," Juvia's voice was hoarse. "Yes, Thank you. Same time tomorrow? Thank you, goodbye,"   
  
She tried smiling at him as she hung up the phone.   
  
"Everything okay?" Gray asked.   
  
"Yeah," she said. "Just a client."   
  
Why did Gray have the odd feeling that she was lying?   
  
  



	8. | 8 |

 

 

“Juvia made a call to your doctor and we’ve both come down to the same conclusion,” Juvia said as she removed her glasses and laid them out on the table. She had seemed to age at least ten years after the phone call and only seemed to get worse the more time went by. As if she had gotten detrimental news.

 

“And what decision is that?” Gray asked, already not liking that he hadn’t been able to go back to work. What else did Juvia have in store for him?

 

“We’ve decided that you no longer are allowed to drive,” she said.

 

“Excuse _me_?” Gray asked sitting forward in his seat.

 

“After the accident today—” Juvia started.

 

“—there was _no_ accident.” Gray cut in. “I simply zoned out. It was a one time thing. It won’t happen again.”

“Zoned out?” Juvia looked at him accusingly. “Be honest Gray-sama. You can’t lie to Juvia. She knows what happens in cases like yours. Patients have frequent flashbacks, especially if it’s something having to do with what caused their trauma.”

 

Gray narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m not like other patients.”

 

He _wasn’t_ like other patients. At least, that’s what Gray hoped. The way Juvia sighed and crossed her arms made him realize that he might’ve been the only one interested in something else than just a therapists and patient.

 

“ _You_ think I’m like other patients,” he accused. For some reason he felt hurt, but it quickly turned into anger. “You’re just like all the other shrinks. They all think I’m the same as the other patients.”

 

“No, Gray-sama,” she said. “Juvia knows that every patient is different. But she does have to take in consideration that you can be a risk factor to others if you’re driving. Getting flashbacks or ‘zoning out’ as Gray-sama calls it, is dangerous.” Juvia tried explaining.

 

Gray shook his head. “No,” he said. “ _I_ always drive. Natsu is such a _slow_ driver. Something about getting car sick. Like, that’s the dumbest sickness out there!”

 

Juvia hugged and let out a breath of air as she stared at Gray. “Well,” she finally said. “Natsu-san is both our friend, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind driving the patrol car until you are feeling better and these ‘zone’ outs no longer occur,”

 

Gray didn’t look satisfied so Juvia racked her brain for something else.

 

“Also,” she continued. “She’s seen how much he can be car sick. Just leave a little bit earlier than usual. At the end you both gain something out of this,”

 

“And what’s that?” Gray scoffed.

 

“Well,” Juvia smiles teasingly. “He gets car sick, and you get to make fun of him.”

 

Gray scrunched his eyebrows. “I thought you said we both said gained something?”

 

Juvia gave him a wicked look. “I never said _he_ would gain something good.”

 

Gray cracked a smile.

  


…

  


Three months went by faster than he had ever thought. A few snips of memories came back to him; Natsu and Lucy’s wedding day. A few birthdays, but other than that, Gray hadn’t been able to remember anything and he had become very frustrated. The frustration wasn’t only due to his memories, but was being caused by a sexy blue haired woman.

 

Juvia only seemed to get even more alluring the longer he knew her and spent time around her. Her plump breasts and bottom. Her dresses never made it hard for his imagination to wonder. The way she bit her bottom lip whenever she was thinking hard and the way she would caress his shoulder before he left.

 

He also noticed that she had been looking at him differently. Her eyes lingered on him as if she was trying to decipher all his thoughts. He would catch her looking at him and then shaking her head afterwards and making her way back to what she was doing.

 

It was on a Tuesday evening when she surprised him by showing up at his house right as he was about to set out towards her office.

 

“Juvia,” he said confused as he leaned on the door to his apartment. “What are you doing here?”

 

Juvia looked at him. “Sorry. Juvia should’ve called, but she forgot to charge her phone. Juvia thought we should have a session here. Gray-sama mentioned to Juvia that he hasn’t had luck with remembering so Juvia thought maybe being at home would make him more comfortable and help him remember better.”

 

“Oh,” Gray said. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

 

Gray stepped aside to let her in.

 

“It’s a lovely place,” Juvia mentioned as she looked at some weird centerpiece by the door hallway. He had no idea why he had bought it in the past. It made no sense to him. It was a black shell decorated in lots of glitter. His taste in decor was never great to his knowledge, and it looked like it hadn’t gotten better.

 

“Yeah,” Gray said as he guided her towards the living room. “I’m not sure how was able to afford this with a polices wage,”

 

Juvia gave him a small smile as she took a seat on the couch. Her eyes lingered for a second, but then she scanned the rest of the room—it made Gray a bit on the edge.

 

“Would you like to have anything to drink?” Gray offered.

 

“No,” Juvia said quickly. “It’s okay. Juvia is fine.”

 

“Okay,” Gray awkwardly sat down in front of her.

 

He was the _greatest_ person at reading people, but when it came to Juvia, he knew when something was bothering her. Her hands were fidgeting in her lap, and she key sweeping her long blue curly strand behind her ear.

 

“Is there something wrong?” Gray asked hesitantly.

 

“Oh,” Juvia said. “No, no. Everything is okay. It’s just that this is the first time we’ve been really alone.”

 

Gray tried to breathe after her words. He tried to play it out as a joke. “Don’t worry, I’m not a serial killer or anything.”

 

He almost punched himself for the lame attempt in trying to fix things, if it weren’t that Juvia burst into giggles.

 

“Oh, Gray-sama really knows how to make things better,” she said.

 

“I try,” he said sheepishly.

 

Their session started pretty well. Gray had laid back and had started about his weekly activities, which wasn’t hard. He had become very accustomed about talking about it with Juvia. He had been a bit more open with her.

 

“I was thinking of trying something new,” Juvia said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a photo album. “I asked Natsu and Erza to put some of your past pictures together and see if they could help trigger your memories. What do you think?”

 

Juvia gave him a smile, but Gray felt as if his lungs had collapsed on him. His body had gone cold, and his eyes were trained on to something else.

 

On Juvia’s left hand was a silver wedding ring.


	9. | 9 |

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *mature content ahead. Read at your own discretion.

 

 

Gray wasn’t sure how it happened. One second he was saying goodbye to Juvia and leading her to the front door of his apartment when the next thing he knew he had her against the wall. His mouth on her— _hard._ His lips interlocking with her and kissing her as if it were his last breath. Her long and exquisite legs wrapped around his waist. Her center connecting deliciously and painfully against him over his pants. Her arms were around him in his hair; pulling and tugging.

 

“ _Oh,”_ she moaned when he unlocked their lips for a second to suck in the tender spot in her neck he knew drove her crazy. “Gray-sama.”

 

“I love it when you call me that,” he groaned as he grasped her plump ass with his hands. He couldn’t remember how many times he had imagined touching it, pawing it, probably around the same amount about kissing or simply laying his hands on her. Juvia was an exquisite woman and he still couldn’t get it through this brain that she was going to be his in a few minutes.

 

It wasn’t long before he crashed his room door open and dropped Juvia on his bed. They didn’t dislock for a single second as he struggled for his belt and she managed to pull the top of her dress down, revealing a see through black bra that made his member even more impatient.

 

“Touch Juvia, Gray-sama.” Juvia moaned through kisses and Gray was easy to comply.

 

“ _Fuck,”_ he groaned as he felt her panties and they were already soaked through. “You wanted this.”

 

“Yes,” Juvia said as she pulled his pants down. “Juvia wanted Gray-sama all this time.”

 

“Me too,” Gray said as he ripped the remainder of the dress off her. He would have to buy her a new one, although Juvia didn’t seem to mind as she pulled him close, positioning him between her long legs; where both of their sexes cake in contact. Making them both groan.

 

“God,” Gray groaned as he went down to suck her hard nipples over her bra. “I’ve waited too long for this.”

 

“Juvia too,” she panted. She pulled his hair and made him look into her eyes. Worry in them. “But remember what Juvia said.”

 

“What was that?” Gray smirked as he played with the side of her panties.

 

“Juvia’s husband can’t find out.”

 

Gray startled awake into the darkness. His face was covered in sweat and he was _very_ hard down there. He groaned as he realized it had all been a dream and Juvia had left hours earlier.

 

“Fuck,” he groaned as he ran his hands through his bed hair. “It seemed so real.”

 

He breathed in trying to calm himself, but he knew he would need a cold shower if he wanted to go back to sleep before showing up to work the next day. He couldn’t believe he had just had a wet dream about his therapist. His _very_ hot therapist.

 

As the cold water fell over his shoulders, images of Juvia in his dream kept flashing through his head making him groan in annoyance and his hard member stay hard. At the same time, he thought about the silver band on Juvia’s finger earlier and how he had never noticed it before. Had it always been there and he had chosen not to see it? Or had it simply been an accessory?

 

Not knowing was making his frustrated. He _needed_ to know. He couldn’t be pinning after a married woman. Even if that woman was Juvia and it hurt him like hell thinking that he had to let her go.

 

….

  


“So,” Gray said from the passenger seat during patrol time with Natsu. “Is Juvia married?”

 

“No way,” Natsu grinned as he turned left at a light. “I was right. You’re into Juvia.”

 

“No!” Gray lied. “I was just wondering.”

 

“Why?” Natsu lifted an eyebrow at him. “So you can ask her out on a hot date?”

 

“I just want to get to know my therapist better,” Gray explained.

 

“Sure,” Natsu stuffed his mouth with a donut he had bought earlier. “Shou want to kish hersh, you want to marish her.” Natsu said with a stuffed mouth, little flakes of chewed donuts leaving his mouth as he spoke. _You want to kiss her, you want to marry her._

 

Gray rolled his eyes. “You’re disgusting. How did Lucy marry you?”

 

Natsu swallowed. “Because I’m handsome and irresistible.”

 

“Keep dreaming flame brain. Lucy is an angel for staying with you,” Gray teased.

 

“Hey!” Natsu argued. “I’m the angel for having to deal with all her physical abuse.”

 

“Sure, sure.” Gray waved his hand in dismay. “Now tell me if Juvia is married.”

 

Gray was expecting another joke to come out of Natsu’s mouth, but instead his friends face left any traces of teasing and became serious.

 

“Listen Gray,” he said. “I can’t tell you much, other than that it’s a touchy subject with her, you need to ask Juvia personally if you want to know more about him.”

 

“So,” Gray swallowed heavily making him feel like sluggish water. “She is married.”

 

Natsu’s hands tightened and became white against the steering wheel. “She was.”

 

“ _Was?_ ” Gray scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

 

“Yeah,” Natsu looked at him with serious eyes. “Was. He died a few years back.”

  



	10. | 10 |

 

 

Gray wasn’t sure why, but more than ever, he started noticing how much of a strange woman Juvia was. Not in a creepy, eats pickles with butter or collects shrunken heads kind of strange, but more in her behavior.

 

It had been about three weeks since he had found out that she was a widow. On the second week he had entered her office and the ring was gone, but he noticed that she played with her ring finger every once in a while, she would catch herself, shake her head and then look so sad.

 

There were times when she would stare off into space, that Gray would have to knock on the door more than five times for her to realize that he was there. At some points, she would get a message on her phone and she would get the most painful expression in her face that it hurt _him_ just seeing her like that. Still, Juvia never once spoke about her outside life or her problems.

 

She had become distant the more time went by. She would look at the calendar with a longing look. Sometimes, he would even catch her staring at him, but he imagined it was just her staring at something behind him.

 

Gray wasn’t all sunshine and flowers either. He wasn’t getting any more flashbacks or memories. It was as if his brain decided that it didn’t want him to remember anymore. On the third week he hadn’t gotten a _single_ memory or any type of flashback that could make him piece more parts of his life together.

 

After one of his sessions, he was so disappointed and frustrated with everything that he decided to confront Juvia.

 

“Is something bothering you?” He asked as she started closing her notebook.

 

Juvia visibly went rigid, but her poker face didn’t change as she closed her notes and started rearranging her desk.

 

“What does Gray-sama mean?” she asked softly as she put her pens back into their corresponding container.

 

“Don’t try to hide it with me, Juvia.” Gray said on the slight side of irritation. “For the last couple of weeks you’ve been acting distant and you don’t seem to be one hundred percent here most of the time.”

 

Juvia sighed as she flattened her hands on her desk. “Juvia apologises,” she said softly. Her eyes turned an unreadable blue color. “These last few weeks...they’ve been a bit stressful for Juvia.”

 

Gray scrunched his eyebrows as he tried to mull the words in his head and tried to come up with a good way to bring up the subject of her descended husband.

 

“Is it because of your husband?” Gray almost kicked himself for not coming up with a better way to bring him up.

 

That seemed to catch Juvia’s attention because for a second she looked closed to panic, but then her eyes simply looked sad and almost sacred.

 

“What does Gray-sama mean? Who…?”

 

“Natsu told me,” Gray scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. “Don’t blame him. I asked because I saw the wedding ring on your finger and I also saw that you’d been distant. I’m really sorry about his passing away.”

 

Juvia stayed quiet for the longest time Gray started thinking she thought of him as some creep that read too much into her personal life, but when she finally sighed and looked up, her eyes were misty.

 

“Juvia is sorry that she hasn’t been at her best recently,” she explained. “It might be another reason why Gray-sama hasn’t been able to remember either. Juvia hasn’t kept up her part.”

 

Gray tried to intervene, but Juvia wouldn’t let him.

 

“Today, two years ago, Juvia’s husband died.” Juvia said, making Gray _really_ want to kick himself. Why the hell had he asked her out of all the days about her dead husband on his death anniversary? Gray squirmed in his chair trying to find the perfect way to comfort her, but Juvia didn’t look sad.

 

In fact, for the first time in that month, she had a small smile in her face as she looked at him.

 

“He was a great man,” she said softly. She went to play with her ring finger, probably in search for said ring, but noticing it wasn’t there, she played with the necklace that laid on her chest instead. “He was smart. He also loved hockey too, you know?”

 

Gray gave her an apologetic small smile and nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

 

“No,” Juvia smiled softly. “It’s okay. I’m happy to share this with someone.” She breathed in. “It’s been so long since she’s spoked of _him_ with anyone.”

 

Gray’s feeling of jealousy had disappeared since the moment Natsu had told him that Juvia’s husband had died. Instead, he rendered tribute to the man. They both had feelings for Juvia, and that was something special itself. Juvia was a wonderful woman.

 

Gray reached forward and grasped her hand in his. Her hands were warm  imparted to his cold ones. She didn’t pull away, instead she leaned into his touch.

 

“You’ve helped me through a lot,” he said, squeezing her fingers comfortably. “It’s only fair that I return the favor.”

  


Juvia nodded at him and squeezed his hand back, but that had been the last time they ever spoke about her ex husband again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s starting to get good!


	11. | 11 |

 

 

Gray should’ve listened to the bad feeling in his gut. He had known from a very young age that anything his gut told him was very useful and that it never let him down. That’s what kept him from getting a concussion every time he played hockey.

 

It had started when Natsu and him had been on patrol when the radio had done off letting them know about a car chase that needed all the officers in the area to come together and help.

 

Their red and blue lights and the sound of their car sirens made a path for them.

 

“We haven’t had one of these in a while,” Natsu commented as he took a sharp right.

 

Gray gripped on to his seat and glared at Natsu. Natsu had always been a bad driver, and even worse one in a high speed chase. Gray watched as all their boxes of donuts went flying everytime Natsu took a turn. His pink friend wasn’t even phased, but Gray knew it wasn’t going to be long before his car sickness hit him hard.

 

“I can hear the others,” Gray said as he heard the familiar sound of sirens, and it wasn’t long before he saw the flashing lights and they joined into the group of cop cars.

 

Gray couldn’t see the car very well, but something about it seemed familiar to him. He wasn’t sure why. All he could see as they drove after it, was that it was a Nissan model with a dark tint and a dent on the bumper.

 

“Where do you think the drivers heading to?” Natsu asked. “We can try and take a shortcut.”

 

“It looks like they’re trying to leave the city,” Gray scrunched his eyebrows as he thought of all the back roads he knew. “Which means they have to cross the big intersection. Take Greens Road. If we step on it, we might be able to cut them off!”

 

Gray tried to remember the plate number that had been rambled off on the radio, but nothing about it sounded familiar. He hadn’t seen a similar car on any past cases, so where had he seen it?

 

“Step on it,” Gray told Natsu. “If we want to reach them before the take the intersection, we have to step on it so we can block them.”

 

Natsu nodded, but by the color of his face, Gray knew he wouldn’t last long. He prayed that Natsu puked _after_ they had barricaded the way for the car they were chasing. They couldn’t let them get away.

  


“... _update,”_ Gray’s ears perked when he heard a fellow officers familiar voice over the radio. _“...more than one car. It’s a two car chase...the plates are…”_

 

“Holy shit!” Gray didn’t have enough time to react to Natsu’s outburst, because before he knew it, he was being thrown to the side of the cop door as Natsu made a sharp right turn.

 

“What the hell, man!” Gray called out, but Natsu’s eyes were wide in something like almost fear...and anger.

 

“Those plates,” he murmured.

 

“What?” Gray was confused.

 

“Those plates!” Natsu repeated louder. “Hold on!”

 

Gray had no time to ask his friend why he had gone insane before Natsu was stepping on the gas and driving down the road like a mad man.

 

“What is going on, Natsu!” Gray demanded as his friend took another turn.

 

“They won’t get away this time!” Natsu seemed to be talking to himself. His knuckles had turned white from grasping on the steering wheel so hard, and he seemed to have forgotten about his car sickness.

 

“Do you know what this car chase is about?” Gray scrunched his eyebrows.

 

“What were the two sets of plates?” Natsu asked.

 

“You don’t remember—?”

 

“ _What were the set of plates!_ ” Gray blinked at Natsu’s outburst. He had never seen his friend this way. Even from childhood he had never seen him as panicked and almost as frightened as that moment.

 

Gray spit out the numbers and it only seemed to worsen Natsu’s state. His face lost all his color and the way he looked down at his phone, Gray knew he was hiding something from him.

 

“Shit!” Natsu groaned as he saw something on his phone. “Why didn’t I _notice?_ ”

 

“What’s going on, Natsu?” Gray demanded. “This ain’t funny. Tell me what’s going on!”

 

Natsu glanced at him. He seemed to mull over whether he should tell Gray or not. He finally conceded.

 

“I’ve been working on this case for a while,” Natsu said. “Everytime I feel like I’m close, the bastard manages to get away.”

 

“What?” Gray said. “Who is it?”

 

Natsu clenched his teeth as they rounded the last corner and made it to the interstate.

 

“It’s the man,” Natsu said. He looked over at Gray. “It’s the man who hit you while you were driving Gray.”

 

…

  


Gray had never given it much thought about who had hit him the night of the accident. All he had known was that it had been a hit and run. He hadn’t given it much thought. All he had been preoccupied with was getting his past life back. He had let his siblings worry about all the legal issues, he had simply signed anything that needed to be signed.

 

He _remembered_. The beat up Nissan. The dented bumper, but he didn’t remember what happened. All he could up with was the image of the car in his head. That’s why it had been so familiar.

 

Gray felt like if he focused on _who_ has caused him to lose one third of his life, he would be consumed by hatred and anger that he would lose himself. And he had already lost too much, he couldn’t lose anymore.

 

So, when Natsu and him managed to cut off one of the two cars before they left the interstate, he didn’t know why, but he hopped off the car faster than he could’ve imagined.

 

Natsu tried following behind him, but his car sickness seemed to beta him and his friend started puking on the side of the road as the cars on the opposite side zoomed past them.

 

Three other cop cars were positioned behind him and two more opposite of him. Everyone was behind the door, guns ready. Gray was too. He wanted to see the face of the bastards who had ruined his life.

 

His eyebrows narrowed as he took the car in. It was a white slick car, brand new Toyota, Camery. It _wasn’t_ the Nissan. They had let that car go, even if other cops were chasing it. Still, it meant the other car was affiliated with it.

 

Gray took a better looked at the other car and blinked. No way. It was just coincidence. His life couldn’t be _that_ screwed up.

 

But Gray knew better than to believe in coincidences, especially after everything that he gone through. His throat went dry and his hands became damped in sweat.

 

“ _Put your hands above your head and step out of the vehicle!”_ One of the police officers said over the speakers. “ _Step out of the vehicle and put your hands where I can see them!”_

 

Gray waited anxiously as the doors opened. On his side, Natsu joined him and he could hear over the Radio that the other group of cops were chasing the other vehicle.

 

“Shit,” Natsu said almost immediately as he looked at the white car. His eyes narrowed. He dropped his gun and Gray’s eyes widened.

 

“Are you _insane?”_ Gray asked incredulously. “What are you _doing!”_

 

“You guys need to calm down!”

 

Gray almost got whiplash as he turned over to the scene again and a very unfamiliar yet familiar man stepped out of the white car. Gray almost sighed in relief when he realized it wasn’t who he thought it was going to be. Maybe the world didn’t hate him _that_ much.

 

Still, he narrowed his eyes at the tall man as he stepped out of the vehicle with his arms on either side. His black hair was tied back in a pony tail and he was wearing black clothes that reminded Gray of a biker. His face was decorated with Ana tray of piercings. He had a smug smirk on his face.

 

“ _Hands were we can see them!”_ The officer called again.

 

“Man,” The black haired man said. “Y’all are always this uptight?” His face suddenly grew serious and angered radiated from him. “You _stopped_ us for no fucking _reason!”_

 

“ _Hands—!”_

 

“You’re letting the bad ones go!” The man slammed his hand on top of the roof of the car. “You fucking idiot stopped us when we were _so_ close.”

 

“ _We will say it one more time,” the police officer said. “Hands above your head!”_

 

“Damn it,” Gray turned to look at Natsu again who look defeated. He was on his butt leaning against the cop door.

 

“What the _hell_ are you doing fire breath?” Gray ask irritated. “Get your gun and get in position.”

 

“Why?” Natsu questioned back. “We got the wrong car.”

 

“What?” Gray asked confused.

 

“ _Do as they say, Gajeel-kun!”_

 

Gray turned so quickly he wondered how he didn’t dislocate his neck. That familiar voice. It couldn’t be?

 

A figure stepped out of the car with her hands in the air. She was glaring at the man with the black clothes. _No way,_ Gray thought. _There’s no way I’m this unlucky._ But the azure blue curls and those blue eyes didn’t lie to him.

 

It was Juvia.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being this way ;)


	12. | 12 |

 

“I don’t even know what to say,” Gray said as he sat on the other side of the table in the questioning room.

 

“Well, it’s usually Juvia asking all the questions,” Juvia said. “Now it’s Gray-sama’s turn to ask _her_ questions!”

 

“This isn’t a joke Juvia,” Gray reminded her. “You’re in a lot of trouble. What were you doing with that guy chasing after those guys?”

 

Juvia sighed. She was wearing a different outfit than her usual one. She had on a pair of tight black pants, a long black sleeved sweater, and long black boots. Her hair was in a braid on the side right of her shoulder.

 

“Gray-sama, Juvia can’t tell you.” she said for the umpteenth time.

 

“And why the hell not?” Gray asked. He was starting to get irritated with her lack of answers.

 

“Juvia just can’t.” she said.

 

“Juvia, I know you’re my therapist and what not,” Gray reminded her. “But I’m the one in charge right now and you _have_ to tell me what happened. You’re in a lot of trouble and I’m just trying to help.”

 

 “Juvia knows,” she said. “But—”

 

She hesitated and instead simply shook her head.

 

Gray clenched his fist on the table. “Is it because you knew those guys were involved in the accident I was in two years ago?”

 

Juvia looked up with her eyes wide. “How…?”

 

“Natsu told me,” Gray said.

 

“He did _what?”_ Gray was surprised to see Juvia lose her control and look angry. “How _could_ he?”

 

“What do you mean?” Gray scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “I have a right to know, Juvia. In the beginning I was adamant to know what had happened to me, but now that I know _who_ they were, or at least what their car looks like, I just—”

 

Gray hesitated. “I feel like this wasn’t just some hit and run. For the owner of the car to be so adamant on being caught, it’s just a whole new level of insanity. People who hit and run are usually overwhelmed with guilt and eventually turn themselves in.”

 

Juvia was shaking her head and her eyes showed a new fear he hadn’t ever seen on her. Gray was seeing a whole different person than the one he saw on Monday’s and Friday’s at 4pm behind closed doors in an office.

 

“No,” Juvia said, her voice close to panic. “Natsu-san _shouldn’t_ have told you.”

 

“Why _not?_ ” Gray repeated himself. “I don’t understand why you're making it such a big deal. Why _shouldn’t_ Natsu have told me?”

 

His question seemed to snap Juvia back to normal because her eyes lost the panic look and her eyes turned back to the ones he was used to.

 

“Juvia is sorry,” she said with a sigh. “Gray-sama is right. He has every right to know. It’s just that Juvia didn’t want him to be as informed until he fully recovered his memories. She believed it could interfere with his progress.”

 

“Are you going to tell me now why you were with some weird dude chasing after them?” Gray said. “That’s the job for the police, not for the two of you.” Gray scrunched his eyebrows. “What was that guy doing getting involved? I don’t even know him.”

 

“Well…” Juvia started, but then the door to the room swung open and Natsu stepped in.

 

“What the hell?” Gray asked incredulously. “You know you’re supposed to wait until I’m finished with interrogation.”

 

“No need,” Natsu said with a wave of his hand. “They’ve been cleared. They’re good.”

 

“What?” Gray stood up from his seat. “What do you mean?”

 

“He means,” a deeper voice said from behind Natsu. The man from earlier stepped into view. “That we’re clear. We’re done. Let’s go.”

 

“Hold on,” Gray said taking a stance. “You understand this guy was driving like a maniac after some guys that almost killed me. We can’t let him go.”

 

“Of course you can,” The man said. He took something from his pants and brought it out. He showed it to Gray. “Special agent, Gajeel Redfox. FBI.”

 

The badge didn’t lie. Gray opened and closed his mouth, not sure on what to say.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Close your mouth and stop catching flies.” Gajeel said. He looked over Gray’s shoulder. “Let’s go, rain woman.”

 

“Okay,” Juvia said as she got up, but Gray stopped her with a wave of his hand.

 

“Wait,” he said. “What the hell? Then how do you know Juvia? And how are you involved with the people who caused my accident?”

 

“You haven’t told him?” Natsu looked at Juvia, who in returned gave him a deathly glare.

 

“Told me _what?”_ Gray asked exasperated.

 

Juvia looked at Gajeel, who in return rolled his eyes. “Just tell him.”

 

“Gray-sama,” Juvia said. “Gajeel-kun is Juvia’s brother.”

 

…

 

Gray _knew_ he recognized Gajeel from somewhere. He had been in Juvia’s Facebook pictures. He wasn’t about to say that out loud though. They had gone to the lounge area to speak about the incident.

 

“So,” Gray said with scrunched eyebrows. “The whole reason you are even involved is because Juvia asked you to help?”

 

“Do I have to repeat myself?” Gajeel said said as he scarfed down donuts. Beside him, Natsu was doing the same thing.

 

“And you got involved because Natsu asked you for help,” Grays said slowly at Juvia.

 

“Yes,” Juvia said as she stirred a cup of tea she held between her hands. “We had an operation. Juvia had tried to contact Natsu about it. It was a last minute thing, but he never answered. Juvia had to join Gajeel-kun because he needed a second person.”

 

“I didn’t _need_ anyone else,” Gajeel grumbled in annoyance. “I could’ve easily done it by myself.”

 

“Yes, you do.” Juvia argued back. She looked at Gray as in ‘can you believe this guy?’ “Gajeel-kun always gets into trouble.”

 

“Which is the job of practicality every FBI agent.”

 

“No it isn’t!” Both Juvia and Natsu said.

 

“It has been almost two years and we still haven’t able to catch these guys,” Natsu sighed as he put down his pink frosted donut. “I needed some help and I knew Juvia had a brother in the FBI, and I thought maybe he could help.”

 

“So,” Gray repeated. “This is the brother you told me about earlier?”

 

“Yes,” Juvia nodded. “I believe he could help, so Juvia agreed with Natsu-san.”

 

Gray didn’t know why, but he internally sighed in relief. Gajeel was her brother. He didn’t need to worry about him anymore. He had always thought maybe he had been some boyfriend since he saw him on her Facebook pictures, but now he knew he was her brother.

 

He suddenly felt guilty. Juvia and Gajeel were trying to help him and Gray was off thinking about stupid things that didn’t matter at the moment.

 

Gray ran his hands over his face. So Gajeel was Juvia’s adopted brother, and he was FBI. _Okay, he thought. I don’t know what other craze I can handle._

 

“Fine,” Gray finally said. “I believe you.” He looked at Natsu with an intense stare, and then at Juvia. “But there’s nothing else you’re hiding, right?”

 

“We’re not,” Juvia reassured him.

 

“Chill Ice Prick,” Natsu patted his shoulder. “You can trust us. There’s nothing else.”

 

Gray knew better than to believe them. They were hiding something from him. He knew it. Something was up, and he was going to find out what.

 


	13. | 13 |

 

Gray couldn't find _any_ information about the dark Nissan after he had released both Juvia and Gajeel. He had made sure to stay late and search in the computers database, but there wasn’t anything available for him to see.

 

After Natsu had left for home, Gray had scavenged through his cases and his computer, but even _he_ didn’t have any information laying around, which Gray found weird. Natsu should have all the information about the incident somewhere, or at least in some folder. It couldn’t be confidential. It had been a simple accident. Gray knew he had signed off his rights on the case. He had left it to Lyon and Ultear, but he was really curious now.

 

Gray ran his hand through his dark hair in frustration. He shut the folder cabinet with much more force than it needed. _Where_ were the case files?

 

Gray stopped running his hand through his hair as a thought hit him. _Could they be in Laxus’ office?_ Gray shook his head. _I can’t over step and go into his office when he isn’t here._

 

Gray mulled over his options in his head. Was he desperate enough to enter his boss’s office without permission? He could always ask Lyon or Ultear to send him a copy of the files. Even so, Gray felt a foreboding feeling deep inside him.

 

As he took a step towards Laxus’s office, his phone rang. Making him jump in surprise. All of a sudden, he felt guilty. Laxus had always been been true and honest to Gray. For Gray to over step his boundaries wasn’t fair. Not to Laxus, who still gave him his job back even after such a long time.

 

His phone rang again. Gray dug through his black uniform pants to get his phone. They were always a pain.

 

“Hello?” He said as he brought his phone to his ear.

 

“Gray, it’s been a while.”

 

Gray blinked as he recognized the voice. “Lyon?”

 

…

 

“You should’ve told me you were coming,” Gray said as he opened the door of his apartment for his adopted brother.

 

Lyon sported, like always, a suit. He was a businessman, so it was expected of him. He carried two luggage’s and a small carry on. Gray never understood why he needed so many things.

 

“Yeah, well,” Lyon grunted as he dropped his luggage and plopped on the couch. “If you _answered_ your phone, you’d know I was coming to visit for a week or so.”

 

“A week?” Gray said and then looked pointedly at Lyons baggage. “And you brought all that?”

 

“I’m not just here to keep you company, Gray.” Lyon said, as it were stupid of Gray to even think that way. “I have business to attend to, as well. So, I have to look the part.”

 

“Did you come visit me, or did you come for business?” Gray asked as he closed his apartment door behind him.

 

Lyon sat up on the couch. “Both, and I also came to new that famous therapist of yours. I’ve been emailing back and forth with her. I’d like to personally meet her.”

 

Gray felt piqued at Lyon’s interest in meeting Juvia. Sure, his brother wasn’t married and never really had interest in women other than his few one night stands, but Juvia was beautiful, and Gray _knew_ no man could ever _not_ feel attracted to her. Stil, Gray knew there was something _more_ behind Lyon’s visit. His brother was organized, precise—he always followed a schedule. Something was up.

 

“Did Natsu call you?” Gray asked. He crossed his arms across his black T-shirt. He had changed into sweatpants and a black shirt when he had arrived home.

 

“What?” Lyon’s feigned innocence. “Why made you say that? Is there a reason for him to call me?”

 

“Nice try, Lyon.” Gray said as he made his way across to the living room. “Why the hell are you really here? We both know you never stray from your schedule unless it’s an emergency.”

 

Lyon sighed. Bingo. “Natsu called me. He said you asked around about the incident. He also told me that your therapists brother got involved?” Lyon undid his tie. “I’m here for any legal reasons or if you want to go and look over the case files. It’s been awhile since the accident. It’s only fair. I’m sure you’re interested.”

 

Gray shook his head in shock. “I just don’t understand why Natsu called you. Did you know about Dr. Lockser’s brother helping in the investigation? Did you know he was FBI? And no, don’t shake your head at me, I know Natsu couldn’t have come up with that idea on his own.”

 

Lyon stared at Gray before he lowered his gaze. “Listen, don’t get angry—”

 

“—I _fucking_ knew it.” Gray cut him off. He pointed at him. “I _knew_ something was up. There’s _no_ way Natsu would have come up with something like that on his own.”

 

“I don’t know about you,” Lyon said. “But I want to catch this sick son of a bitch who did this to you. When I spoke to Juvia on the phone, she mentioned she had a brother who was FBI, so I asked her for help.”

 

“ _Juvia?_ You spoke to _Dr. Lockser,_ yes, _Dr. Lockser_ to you,” Gray said in irritation. Juvia _never_ mention about having a one on one conversation with Lyon over the phone. “And you didn’t _tell_ me? I understand you speaking to her about my memories and all that, but when it’s something about this, I think I have a _right_ to know.”

 

“Would you have _done_ anything, Gray?” Lyon said, anger creeping in his voice. “After you came out of the hospital you didn’t want _anything_ to do with the whole incident, so you dumped all that responsibility on _me._ And I can call Juvia whatever I want. She’s not _my_ therapist.”

 

Gray gawked at him. “You _just_ got here and already…” Gray trailed off and sighed. Lyon had a point. Up until earlier in the day, Gray hadn’t had any interest knowing about the car accident that had caused him to lose his memories. Which sounded ridiculous, but a part of him was too scared to know and be consumed by the hatred.

 

He was taking out on his frustrations, his anger and his fear on the one person that had picked up the pieces he didn’t want to take care of almost a year ago.

 

“You know what?” Lyon sighed as he rubbed his face. “I took the earliest flight here as I was landing from my business trip to Dubai. I really need to catch some sleep. We can discuss this more in the morning, okay?”

 

Lyon hesitated as he walked up to Gray. He patted his shoulder. “Maybe you don’t think the same, but I’m happy to see you.”

 

Lyon made sure to slam the door as he walked into the guest room.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AH! My lovely Lyon is in the picture! Who else is excited?


	14. | 14 |

Lyon wasn’t around much after their fight. He hadn’t even stayed the next morning so Gray and him could speak. Sure, Gray felt guilty about what he’d said, but at the same time he had a nagging feeling at the back of his head telling him he shouldn’t apologize to Lyon just yet. 

 

He had been given a few days off from work when Laxus had heard Gray’s ‘brother’ was back in town and believed if Gray spent more time with him than maybe his memory could come back, or at least have a few flashbacks. Oh, how wrong he had been. It had been Friday, almost four days since Lyon had come down to visit Gray, and he hadn’t seen the white haired man other than the night they had fought and a few quick glances of him walking out the door in the morning.

 

Sighing, Gray crushed the wrapper of his Fiber One bar and tossed it into the trash can of his dark kitchen. He had been having a very crappy breakfast. ‘Nutritious’ bars and orange juice were his breakfast. He ate out more than he’d like. His body had started losing muscle. He wasn’t the twenty year old hockey jock anymore: He was an old man.

 

Reaching for an apple he couldn’t help but remember the times he had a nice breakfast: eggs, bacon, biscuits and heap of—

 

_ Chocolate chip pancakes. Gray sat in his kitchen table, a stack of chocolate chip pancakes on a plate along with some cinnamon and spice oatmeal. A freshly cut bowl of fruit day beside it. He reached for it with a spoon and a much too eager look on his face. They always knew how to make his mornings. _

 

_ Reaching for the syrup on the table, he drowned his pancakes in the thick sugary goodness and scarfed one of them down without as much as breathing. Glancing over, he smiled as he saw a smaller serving of pancakes and oatmeal. He wondered how long they’d take to get ready.  _

 

_ As if reading his mind, the sound of shoes patting made him look up. He smiled as the person came into view. _

 

_ “Happy—.” What? “Day!” _

 

_ What were they saying? Gray couldn’t hear them. He tried to get up and walk towards them, but he felt like he was glued down to the chair, struggling he fought against the invisible restraints.  _

 

_ The soft pad of feet retreating made him realize they were leaving. _

 

_ Wait! _

 

_ Wait! _

 

_ Stop! _

 

_ Please don’t leave! _

 

_ His voice was gone. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. He  _ needed  _ to reach for them. If he didn’t then— _

 

The memory hit him  _ so  _ hard that Gray lunged forward and landed on his knees and hands. He continued by puking his breakfast from that morning. After the contents of his stomach were emptied, he stood up shakily. He was breathing hard, his eyes were wide and his hands were trembling as he gripped the sides of the chairs.

 

“What…?” He mumbled to himself as he ran his fingers through his hair. 

 

_ What was that memory?  _ He thought. It  _ had _ to be real. It felt like he had been living it all presently. Who had been the person to approach him? They had mentioned something about the day but he hadn’t been able to hear them or see them. It was like a bad FaceTime with minimal audio and the video wasn’t working. 

 

Gray grabbed his head as he felt a sudden sharp pain. He groaned in discomfort. What was going on?

 

Reaching for his phone, he don’t hesitate to hit the call button under Juvia’s name. It rang once. Twice. Three times and—

 

“ _ Hello, you’ve reached Juvia Lockser. She’s sorry she can’t come to the phone right now—” _

 

Gray hung up and called again. The light of his cellphone made the pain increase. Gray closed his eyes as he listened to the call go straight to voicemail again.

 

“Damn it!” He yelled as he threw his phone on the kitchen floor. It shattered on impact, but Gray didn’t care. He groaned as he took his head into his hands once more.  _ Why wont Juvia answer! _

 

He was frustrated. He  _ hated  _ not being able to remember. He didn’t know what he had done for his twenty fifth birthday. He couldn’t remember Natsu and Lucy’s anniversary. He couldn’t remember the time he and Cana had a drinking contest when they had both turned twenty one. His life for the past almost decade was a total  _ blank!  _ What kind of person had he been? What kind of person was he supposed to be now? Who kept continually showing up in his flashbacks that he couldn’t  _ remember?  _

 

Gray felt a sudden panic hit his entire body. The memory had started slowly farthing away from his mind. Like a piece of paper being set on fire. The corners of the memory started burning away, then the edges and then—

 

“NO!” Gray practically cried as he ran into his room and tossed his clothes drawer open looking for the journal Juvia had given him. He gasped as he found it and ripped it open. Reaching for a pen, he started desperately writing down the memory in its entirety. As he continued to write he couldn’t help but let his eyes go misty. 

 

Had something along the lines happened before? He had no idea if he had regained a memory and like snow on a summer day it had melted away. How many times had it happened before and he hadn’t known since he’d forgotten?

 

“This can’t happen,” he muttered to himself. Closing the journal he tucked it under his arm and he reached over for his car keys. He needed to see Juvia. Something was really wrong with him and he needed her help.

 

…

 

Gray had snuck away from Juvia’s assistant the moment she had gotten distracted with another patient. Apparently, Juvia had been stuck in a meeting all morning and had cancelled all her appointments: so, she couldn’t see anyone. Her assistant hadn’t even suggested that she go up and let Juvia know he was there. Gray couldn’t simply wait. His level of panic was too much and he  _ needed  _ to speak with her.

 

Walking down the corridor to her office, he raised his fist to knock on the door when he heard voices on the other side. 

 

“Juvia knows it’s been very dangerous to keep tiptoeing around the whole situation.” It was Juvia’s voice. It sounded as if she were pleading. “But we  _ really  _ shouldn’t rush things.”

 

“ _ Rush  _ things? It’s been  _ months,  _ Juvia! He has a right to know!” 

 

“But you  _ know  _ what happened last time!” It was another voice Gray couldn’t exactly put out just yet. It was a bit muffled by the door.

 

Still, Gray had stopped listening to the conversation as he recognized the voice on the other side of the door along Juvia’s.

 

It belonged to Lyon.

  
  



	15. | 15 |

Gray’s heart beat was in his ears and his body had accumulated itself in cold sweat as he leaned against the door to keep listening to the conversation.

 

“Lyon-sama, please.” Juvia begged. Her voice was thick as if she was holding back tears. Gray scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.

 

“Juvia, I understand that  _ everything  _ we’ve done was to help him, but we’re back to square one!” Who was Lyon talking about?

 

Gray strained his face closer to the door, but he wasn’t able to hear the next answer. It wasn’t more than a whisper.

 

“I think we should keep our strategy like it was. Even if  _ someone  _ went ahead and started it  _ too  _ early. Not at al how’d we’d planned it.” That voice. The clipped words when she was angry and the higher syllabus—it was Lucy’s voice!

 

_ What the hell is she doing here?  _ Gray thought. 

 

“Shut up, Lucy. You and I both knew that we couldn’t drag this. We needed to start this.” Gray’s eyes widened when he heard the familiar scratchy voice. It was fucking Natsu!

 

“After so many mistake, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had slight suspicions.” Lyon sighed dejectedly. He sounded  _ way  _ older and  _ way  _ tired than Gray remembered—even with his memory gap, Gray had never heard Lyon sound so defeated. “I think it’s best we explain things to him.”

 

“ _ No,”  _ Juvia said vehemently. “I  _ won’t  _ allow—”

 

“I know how you feel, Juvia.” The deeper voice and commanding authority it carried—it was Erza. Gray almost tore the door open at that second. She was supposed to be in New York! She continued speaking, “But in this matter we all have to put in our votes. It’s not just you.”

 

There was silence on the other side of the door, which left Gray to try and jumble all his thoughts back in order with no bail. What the  _ hell  _ was going on? 

 

“I just…” Lyon’s voice came through the door after a few seconds. “I don’t know what to do anymore. My plan sucked. It didn’t take him long to figure out it was me who had masterminded it.”

 

“It’s my fault,” Natsu sounded angry and frustrated. “If I’d just  _ payed  _ attention to my phone—!”

 

“I don’t think it’s anyone’s fault,” that deep voice certainly belong to Gajeel, which made Gray’s head start spinning all over again. “We couldn’t stop him from being in the car, and you couldn’t check your phone because you were driving. It happens.”

 

“It’s not like you to be so positive about things,” Lucy refuted back. “What do  _ you  _ think we should do?”

 

“The most important thing is that he didn’t find out the real reason behind that raid at the bridge,” Gajeel’s voice grew softer, as if he was testing the waters with the others. “We should keep him in the dark about that for sure.”

 

“ _ What?” _ A slam followed Lyon’s outburst. What had he thrown? He spoke again, frustration dropping from each word. “ _ That  _ should be the first thing we let him know. It’s where it _ all  _ started!”

 

“Yes,” Juvia’s voice was clipped. She was frustrated too. “It  _ all  _ started there, which is even a  _ more  _ reason to not let him in anytime soon! It would  _ destroy  _ him. Lyon-sama knows that better than  _ anyone _ else. He knows how…” a sobbed escaped Juvia’s mouth. Gray wanted nothing more than to barge in and ask for an explanation, but he knew if he did, he’d get bullshit back.

 

“Juvia-chan,” Lyon said softer, guilt clearly in his voice. He’d triggered something in her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Lyon trailed off and sighed. “Dammit!” 

 

“Enough!” Erza’s voice boomed and by the sound of it, she’d stood up along Lyon. “We’ll all have a vote and decide.”

 

“What has this turned into now?” Natsu spoke out. “Are we in high school? Are we  _ fucking  _ seriously raising our hands to decide the  _ life  _ of someone.”

 

“Do you have a better plan?” Gajeel refuted back. He sounded like he wanted to be out of the situation sooner than later.

 

“Fuck you, Gajeel.”

 

“I’m good.”

 

“This is not a game guys!” Lucy cut in.

 

“You know what?” It was Lyon again. “Let’s give him one more week. See how much he remembers; after that we’ll decide what we should do. We should also wait for the news...” he trailed off as if he had just spoke out of terms, which compared to the night, was off for him. 

 

“There are no news right now,” Juvia sounded so pained with her answer, but Gray was already lost in the whirlwind his mind had become to be able to decipher her pained words. 

 

Gray’s heart was thumping on overdrive and his hands were clammy as he leaned against the door. Were they talking about him? Everything added up in his head. But why? Why was  _ everyone  _ gathered around to try and decide his life when they could simply  _ ask  _ him.  _ No _ , he thought.  _ It can’t be me.  _

 

The sound of a familiar ringtone that haunted Gray during patrol runs cut his thoughts short and made everyone in Juvia’s office stop bickering with one another. The opening theme song of  _ The Amazing Spider-Man  _ started playing and Gray knew it was an incoming call for Natsu. He’d been obsessed with that superhero since he knew him. 

 

“Hello?” Natsu answered. “ _ What?” _ His voice went serious. “When? Okay. Where? What time? Is he alive? What have you gotten out of him? For fucks sake! I’m on my way. I’m bringing Special Agent Gajeel Redfox with me. Okay.”

 

“Who was it?” Juvia spoke up as Natsu ended the call. 

 

“It’s PD.” Natsu answered, and by the shuffling Gray could imaging he was on his way out and Gajeel was following suit. “They’ve apprehend Invel.”

 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Lyon said dumbfounded. “There’s  _ no way _ . After all these years?” 

 

“Seems like it,” Natsu sighed. “I hope this isn’t some fluke or something.”

 

“I’m coming with you,” Lyon stated.

 

“Fine,” Natsu said defeated. He sounded like he didn’t want to argue with Lyon anymore. “But you have to listen to  _ everything _ I say.”

 

“Fine,” Lyon agreed. “I guess we should check this out first and then decide. Gajeel’s coming, right? I guess we’ll regroup sometime tomorrow.”

 

“I leave the day after tomorrow,” Erza spoke up. “I have to be in New York as soon as possible.”

 

“We have open house tomorrow at my school, we’ll have to do it super early or later at night.” Lucy added in.

 

“I have a few patients tomorrow,” Juvia joined in. “But I can always cancel.”

 

“Talking about patients, he should be here in less than an hour,” Lyon said. “We need to disperse quickly. We can’t have him catching us all together.”

 

“I’ll call you all later tonight to let you know how it all went,” Natsu said and by the sound of his footsteps, Gray assumed he was heading to the door. Shit. He had to hide. 

 

Gray was able to dash in to one of the emergency exit with a flight of stairs. He clasped his hand over his mouth as he heard approaching footsteps down the hall towards him. He was  _ so  _ angry. ‘Angry’ wasn’t even close enough to describe how he felt. He was scared that if he didn’t shut his own mouth, he’d come out screaming and shouting at the top his lungs. He’d try to pick a fight with them and he’d never be able to figure out what they were really hiding from him.

 

“Like we told the girls,” Natsu sounded so close. Gray felt piqued as he listened from the other side of the door. Was hiding behind doors the only way he could find answers? “We can’t let him know.”

 

“I know,” Lyon answered. “We can’t let Gray find out the truth. That his accident wasn’t a simple car accident. That it had been intentional and that someone had wanted him dead.” 

  
  
  



	16. | 16 |

Gray knew he’d made the right choice by coming back to Juvia’s office at his designated appointment time after everything that he’d heard. In all honesty, he was  _ very  _ pissed off. He felt betrayed and hurt. Like the foundation of his life had been ripped out right from under him. The trust of his friends, his  _ family—fucking Lyon _ —was all gone in mere seconds. His thoughts were in a turmoil, but he knew he couldn’t act rashly or he wouldn’t be able to find out the whole truth.

 

Juvia had smiled and welcomed him in when he showed up right on the clock. Gray wanted nothing more than to question her and accuse her of lying to him, but he’d simply smiled and sat down in his usual seat. Still, as he sat down, he became aware of how jaded Juvia really was. She wasn’t wearing her usual make up, her blue hair was up in a thick bun, her nail polish was chipped and there were dark bags under her eyes. The way she sat was rigid, like she had the worst back pain in the world. For a second, Gray felt bad for her, but then he remembered how she’d been lying at him for so long and the feeling quickly decipaded. 

 

“So,” she smiled at him. “How was your week, Gray-sama? Any new memories resurface?”

 

Gray had given it a big thought if he should tell her about the flashback he’d had earlier. In one perspective, he didn’t completely trust Juvia anymore, but in another he knew there wasn’t anyone out there who would help him the way she did. So, instead of telling her, he gave her his journal. He made sure to observe her and take note of any sort of facial expression she made. 

 

Juvia took the journal in her hands, and as she started reading, it was like she grew older by every word she read. Her eyes became weary and her mouth grew thinner. Had she ever reacted like this to any of his past flashbacks? Had he been too blinded on admiring her beauty, that he wasn’t conscious of her facial expressions? Juvia looked pained as she read on. Gray waited for her to give him a bullshit answer, but Juvia always seemed to surprise him.

 

“I wonder who that was?” she said, giving him back the journal. “It’s probably driving you crazy that you couldn’t remember their faces. I can’t imagine what that must be like.” She tapped her fingers against her desk as she read on. “Are you hiding something from Juvia, Gray-sama?”

 

Gray tried not to squirm under her scrutinizing gaze and instead occupied himself in closing his journal, not exactly meeting her eyes. “What do you mean?”

 

“You’re very tense? Did something happen at work?” Juvia questioned. 

 

“No,” Gray said. “I’ve taken a few days off, so I’ve been spending some time at home…” he trailed off as he thought of something. “Lyon is still around. Have you seen him recently?”

 

Gray was expecting for her to deny so, but instead she sai, “Oh, yes.” Juvia smiled. “She brought him in to ask him a few questions about emergency contacts and to speak about a few other things. Juvia is sorry, she was going to tell you, but she was very busy that she never got around to it.”

 

Gray looked at her smile. It was sincere and even though he knew what really laid behind it, he couldn’t help but want to trust her completely.

 

“It’s fine,” he looked away. “I trust you.”

 

He needed to find what everyone was hiding from him. Even if it meant finding something about Juvia he wouldn’t like.

 

…

 

Gray had been through about twenty different phone books and made more than fifty calls, but he was finally able to track down his last few apartment locations and was able to gather his past bank reports. All he remembered was a rackety apartment from his first year in college, but he’d called and they’d apparently teared down the old building it used to be in. Instead, he found out something very astonishing. Apparently, he  _ owned  _ three different apartments in different parts of Magnolia. Surely, that was insane, but after multiple arguments on the phone with past landlords, he was able to get a copy of the three different contracts. 

 

Why did Gray decide to own so many different places? Most importantly: how had he been able to afford all of them? Even his present apartment had been paid off, and that one hadn’t been cheap. He’d thought he’d lived there when he’d gotten his job as a police officer and over time, after  _ many  _ money struggles, he’d been able to pay it off. Police officers didn’t earn  _ that  _ much. Apparently, based on his contract, he’d bought the apartment six years ago, but he’d only been a police officer for five years. How had he been able to afford it?

 

It brought him back to thinking: Lyon, Lucy, Natsu and Erza probably knew about his past living arrangements and the fact that he  _ owned  _ three apartments—which was simply preposterous—so, why hadn’t they mentioned anything? Why hadn’t they  _ said  _ anything about him being a target? Almost being murdered? 

 

He sighed as he tried to clear his mind. Being angry or frustrated at the moment wasn’t going to him anywhere. Gray had left Juvia’s office earlier, and he’d made it clear that he’d have to miss the next two appointments because he needed some ‘self care time.’ Juvia had been opposed to it in the beginning, but after agreeing to call her twice a day about his condition, she’d finally agreed. She had even promised to stop by to pay him a visit. Gray had to make sure to stay on his toes so she didn’t barge in while he was gone playing detective. He had about a week to figure out what really happened the night of his accident, and who those people in his flashbacks were. 

 

Lyon was supposed to stay for a few more days, but Gray had made it very clear he didn’t want to speak to his white hair sibling anymore. He avoided him when he came in later that night, claiming that he’d had a long day with business meetings, but Gray had closed his laptop and slammed the door to his room.

 

Furthermore, Gray had an even bigger ordeal he wanted to deal with. He needed to find more about the man he heard Lyon and the others speaking about earlier that day. 

 

Who was Invel?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy late valentines my lovelies. Sorry for the delay. Life has been keeping busy, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter ♥️


	17. | 17 |

Gray wasn’t able to find anything in the first apartment complex building, but he didn’t let it crush his hopes. He headed for the second one. He pulled up to the closest parking spot available as he checked his GPS and made sure he was at the right address. A part of him knew he shouldn’t be driving, since Juvia and his doctor had instructed him not to do so, but at the same time, he didn’t have the money or the time to spend on public transportation.

 

He sighed as he realized he’d have to wait for the landlord to give him a copy of the key. The tap on his window made him jump. He wasn’t expecting for him to actually be on time. A pudgy man with a balding head was glaring down at him.  _ Shit,  _ Gray thought.  _ I don’t have time to deal with people with sticks up their asses today.  _

 

Gray tried to give him the calmest face he could muster as he rolled down the window. “Are you the landlord of this complex?”

 

“Are you the bratty kid from the phone?” he refuted back in disdain.

 

Gray tried not to let his snarky comment get to him as he opened the door and decided to step out of his car instead. “I’m Gray Fullbuster. I spoke to you on the phone earlier.”

 

“Yeah, Yeah.” The man sighed as he dug through his pocket. He pulled out a silver key and handed it to Gray. “You  _ bought  _ this apartment. Make sure to take care of your key. I’m  _ not  _ your landlord. You  _ own  _ that place, so you take care of your stuff. Don’t come looking for me anymore.”

 

“Actually,” Gray said to the old man. “I have a question. Were you the landlord when I used to live here?” 

 

The man looked at him in suspicion. “Why do you want o know?”

 

Gray really hated this guy. “I’ve been having a bit of trouble remembering things,” he decided to be somewhat honest. “And I wanted to see if you remembered anything about me.”

 

“What was your name again?”

 

“Gray Fullbuster,” he tried not to show his irritation. He’d  _ just _ told him his name.

 

“Nope, doesn’t ring a bell,” the man sighed, and looked down at his wrist. He didn’t have a watch. “Are we done here? I have people who I have to collect from and people to throw out who  _ haven’t _ been paying rent. I’m a busy man.”

 

“No, that’s it,” Gray answered. He wasn’t expecting to remember him anyways. His bank statements said he’d paid it off a few years ago. Not even he would remember someone’s face for that long, especially some stranger. 

 

“See you around, kid.” The old man sauntered off. Gray couldn’t help but feel a bit grateful that he kept calling him kid. For others, Gray was some ‘almost thirty’ adult, but to himself, he was still the same guy from seven years ago. He was still a stupid twenty something college kid who didn’t know how to make Mac n cheese from the box. 

 

He sighed as he locked his car and pulled his jacket closer around him. It was starting to get chillier. Autumn was around the corner, and he could feel it in the breeze. 

 

The apartment complex didn’t look too luxurious, but it wasn’t run down either. It was somewhere in between. Gray took the stairs to his right. If he remembered right, his apartment number had been  _ 313\.  _

 

He hesitated as he stood in front of the door. Should he knock? But then he felt stupid. The apartment belonged to him. There couldn’t be anyone inside. He unlocked the door with the key, opened the door and was greeted by darkness.

 

He was immediately greeted with a stale odor as he walked in. It’d been a while since anyone had been here. He looked to his right and switched on the light. The hallway lit up, and he closed the door behind him.

 

His footsteps echoed against the floor as he walked in. The first thing he saw was the kitchen. It was completely empty. No appliances or any signs of life. He scrunched his eyebrows as he looked at the paint job. The kitchen had a brighter color scheme than he could ever see his younger self doing. He always liked dark and broody colors. He never would’ve gone with a light pink, light blue kitchen. 

 

His gaze moved over to the end of the kitchen. Small tally marks were drawn on the edge of the wall. Nothing was written on either sides of it. Gray ran his thumb over them. They looked precise, but at the same time, he wondered if he’d been the one to have drowned them. Had he been doing some construction work? He’d never been the type of write on the walls with permanent marker. He must’ve been drunk when he’d done it.

 

Glancing into the living room, he was taken back when he noticed an array of boxes laid out on the floor. There wasn’t any furniture, but the walls were painted a soft blue tone. What had been going through Gray’s mind when he’d decided on that color? 

 

He bent down and opened one of the boxes. All he found were the kitchen appliances he’d been wondering about. Still, he’d seen more cooking tools than he’d ever imagine himself having. He also noticed a soft pink mixer at the very bottom of the box. One of the girls had probably forced him to buy it and tried to convince him to bake. He had his money set that it’d been Erza. He paused. Which meant she probably knew about his multiple apartments. Gray still couldn’t get it through his head that they were keeping something like this from him.

 

He found a couple of old albums and photographs scattered throughout the boxes. Most of them had been from his time in college. Gray spent a couple of minutes looking through them. He was smiling with a trophy in one. Natsu was beside him in his hockey uniform, a giant smile plastered on his face. He turned the picture around. 

 

_ The time we kicked everyone’s ass on the ice.  _

 

He recognized his ugly handwriting. Gray snorted to himself. Only  _ he  _ would choose such a memory to write down. As he dug through the pictures, he realized he couldn’t find anything other than his first semester in college. What had happened to all the other recent pictures? Also, he noticed that everything was very neatly packed, and nothing was covered with dust. It was bizarre. He thought no one had been here, but by the signs of it, someone had been going through the boxes recently, and he never was one to be organized. He couldn’t imagine seeing himself pack so neatly. 

 

Something was wrong. Someone had  _ definitely  _ been there recently. But who? Maybe one of his friends? Had they been checking up on his place? Lyon? He was in town, so there was a possibility there too. 

 

Gray dropped on to the floor and ran one his hands through his hair. He clenched his teeth in frustration. He hated not remembering.

 

...

  
  


Other than the few boxes in the living room, Gray hadn’t found anything else in the other rooms. Which really surprised him. There had been  _ two  _ rooms, aside from the bathroom. Had he been sharing an apartment with Natsu? He used to be his roommate in college, but things didn’t add up. The rooms had been painted a light blue. The color coordination throughout the room was too good for either one of them. They both never cared about decor or little things like matching colors.

 

Gray groaned and kicked the tire of his car. Going through all his past apartments was only making him more frustrated. He couldn’t find a single clue. He had no base ground where he could start investigating. Sure, he had one apartment to go, but what were the odds that he could actually find something? 

 

“Hey, Kid.”

 

Gray turned around only to find the same old man from earlier walking towards him. He had a small brown box with him.

 

“Sir?” Gray called out.

 

“Here,” he threw the box at Gray, to which he almost dropped if he hadn’t been quick on his feet. “I remember who you are now. You need to  _ stop  _ coming around here so much and stop asking me the same stupid questions.”

 

“Wait,” Gray scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

 

The man sighed. “This isn’t the first time I see you, kid.”

 

Gray felt his blood run cold in his veins, and his eyes widened.  _ No _ , he thought.  _ It can’t be.  _

 

“You mean,” he swallowed. “I’ve been here before?”

 

“Uh huh,” the man crossed his arms over his chest. “Asked me to keep this for you. Such a bother.”

 

Gray’s hands were trembling against the box. Had he forgotten? Had he unconsciously been there before and  _ forgotten.  _ Gray leaned against his car to catch his breath.  _ No _ , he thought.  _ I can’t freak out right now. I knew there was a possibility that I’d been losing the memories I remembered. This is nothing knew. I can’t freak out.  _

 

_ “ _ Anyways,” the old man continued. “Make sure to tell that friend of yours to fucking decide on whether he wants to sell the rest of the apartments or not.”

 

“My friend?” Gray asked, even though his mind was already swirling with thoughts. 

 

The man rolled his eyes. “Yeah, he comes here every now and again. It’s starting to freak out the other tenants.”

 

“Wait,” Gray tried to wrap his mind around the information the old man had just given him. “My friend? He  _ owns  _ this place? Who is he?”

 

The old man gave him an odd look. “You don’t remember? If I recall right, he was the one that brought you here. I forgot his name. I think I saw a picture of him in that box. Let me take a look.”

 

Gray let him open the box and start rummaging through. He had the feeling this wasn’t the first time he’d been through it. He took out a black binder looking thing. Gray realized it was a photo album. His eyes widened as the old man started flipping through the pages. Those pictures...they were the ones he had been searching for. They looked older, maybe later in his college years. 

 

“Ah, here it is.” The man said as he stopped on the page he needed. Gray’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at the picture. It  _ wasn’t _ fucking  _ possible _ . 

 

“He came here about a week ago.” The old geezer said as he pointed at the man that had one of his arms wrapped around Gray’s shoulder in the picture. “I think I remember his name now. Was it Silver?”

 

His father was alive. 

 


	18. | 18 |

Lyon was surprised when he walked in and saw Gray sitting in the dark in the living room. He’d been waiting for Lyon to home ever since his change with the landlord in the morning. Gray knew he couldn’t confront him just yet, but he wanted to see him and know if his brother was capable of lying to his face. 

 

“ _ Jesus,  _ Gray.” Lyon jumped when he turned on the living room lights and Gray was just sitting there staring at him. “What the hell are you doing in the dark?”

 

“I was waiting for you,” Gray answered him.

 

“For me?” Lyon raised a white eyebrow in surprise. “Why? Did something happen?”

 

“No,” Gray clasped his hands together. “I just remembered you were leaving sometime tomorrow, so I wanted to talk to you for a bit before you left.”

 

“That’s not typical of you,” Lyon refuted back. He dropped his briefcase on to the couch and then headed towards the refrigerator. 

 

“I don’t think anything is typical anymore,” Gray replied, never once letting his gaze waver from being on Lyon. “Listen, let’s forget about what happened the other day. I understand now that you were doing it to protect me.”

 

Lyon froze. He turned to look at Gray from the side of the fridge door. His eyebrows were scrunched in confusion and surprise was etched in his eyes. 

 

“You’re apologizing?” A whisper of a smirk played on his brothers face, but it was gone when he was the seriousness of Gray’s face. “You’re apologizing,” he said again, more affirmatively.

 

Gray nodded his head. He knew Lyon was shocked. Gray was never the one to apologize first or willingly between both of them. Usually, it took Ultear days and a lot of punches for them to be back on speaking terms again, but Gray knew he needed to be on Lyon’s good side for him not to suspect anything. So if he had to swallow his pride and apologize to his blockhead brother in order to have him leave without suspecting anything, so be it.

 

Earlier when he’d walked in, he had noticed Lyon’s laptop open on the kitchen counter. It didn’t take a genius to figure out his brother’s password. It’s been the same one since they were children. What had caught his attention had been that Lyon was planning on delaying his flight and staying longer than he planned. Gray couldn’t allow that, not when he needed his apartment to be vacant in order for him to start his investigation.

 

Gray wouldn’t rest until he found the truth about what happened the day of his accident and why everyone was keeping it a secret that his father was alive. 

 

“What brought this about?” Lyon went back to rummaging through the fridge.

 

“Dad’s death anniversary is next month,” Gray reminded him. He watched Lyon pause. “I wanted us to be on good terms.”

 

“Really,” There was a strainess in Lyon’s voice. He closed the fridges door, a water bottle in his hands. His eyes were downcasted. 

 

“I thought we could go visit his grave,” Gray pressed on.

 

“It’s been a while,” Lyon sighed, not meeting Gray’s gaze. “It’s been ten years since his death.”

 

Gray gritted his teeth, but nodded. “I think we should get Ultear and head to Alaska during his anniversary week.”

 

Lyon hesitated. “I’ll have to clear my schedule and we’ll have to check and make sure Ultear is free.” His mouth was set into a straight line. He walked closer towards Gray. “But I’ll make sure it happens.” He clapped Gray on the shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I know we all miss him.”

 

Gray kept his face impassive, but nodded. “Are you headed back tomorrow?”

 

“Yes,” Lyon took his hand back and uncapped his water. “Tomorrow at six am. I have important business meetings this week.”

 

“Do you still work at Dad’s company?” Gray asked him.

 

Lyon hesitated for an instant, but Gray caught it. “Yes, Yes. I still do.”

 

“That’s good,” Gray stock and clapped him in the shoulder harder than Lyon had expected. His brother staggered slightly, but Gray’s heavy hand kept him in place. “San Diego is a long flight. Make sure to get good sleep.”

 

“Um, thanks?” Lyon have him a questioning look, but Gray had already let him go and was headed towards his apartment. 

 

Gray closed the door behind him. He grabbed the first pillow he saw and punched it.  _ Lyon that bastard!  _ He clenched his teeth.  _ He lied to my face about dad.  _

 

Gray now knew he couldn’t trust Lyon. He’d lied to him without hesitation, but Gray had caught him in a lie. After a few digging earlier in the day, Gray found out that Lyon’s company was in  _ San Diego,  _ but their father’s company was in San Francisco. Lyon had fallen into Gray’s trap.

 

Gray now knew where to find his father.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/n: hi! I'm sorry I've been gone for so long you guys, and that this chapter was so short, but please cut me some slack this time around. School is literally kicking my butt, but we have a break coming up soon, so I'll try to finish up a few chapters during then. 
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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